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Taunting Repartee

Chapter Forty-Three

The time it took to get her into the infirmary and set up to be healed felt like hours to Rogue. She knew it couldn't have been that long. She would be dead if it had.

'Like Juggernaut,' she thought to herself.

'Anna, we don't know that,' the fragment of Magneto said.

'I cracked his head open and watched blood pour out for god knows how long. Who survives that?' she asked sadly before she opened her eyes.

She glanced up at Amelia.

"You're going to be fine, Anna Marie," Amelia said softly.

"Thank you," Rogue whispered weakly.

"Victor," Magneto yelled catching her attention. She glanced up to see him standing by the door. "Sit or stand as far away from Wolverine as you possibly can without leaving the hallway. That's an order!" Max said firmly. Rogue closed her eyes. She laid there as she had in the van: thoughtless. She was too burnt-out and depressed to think.

"Anna," Max's voice whispered in Rogue's ear. It took her a moment to realize that his voice wasn't coming from her own mind. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment. She saw Max staring down at her. "I just wanted to let you know that Juggernaut is alive," he said. Her eyes snapped opened. "Yes, you heard me correctly, Anna Marie, he's alive. Mr. McCoy, apparently, is a miracle worker."

"Not that I care whether Juggernaut lived or died but I can only imagine the abusive notions you might have started to entertain about yourself if you gave serious thought to the bastard's death," Max said with a smirk; causing her to give out a short laugh. "Well, you can stop debasing yourself now. He'll live another day," he said as he stared down into her eyes. "And so will you my girl, I promise," he said. She smiled at that, tears forming in her eyes. There was so much she wanted to say him. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Shh," Max hushed gently. "I know," he said tenderly with a smile. "There are an unfathomable amount of words that need to be spoken between us and we will have all the time in the world to do so," he said before a smirk came to his face. "And if I know you half as well as I think I do, I'd wager that you currently have an uncontrollable urge to punch me in face with as much force as you can muster," he said lightheartedly. She couldn't help but laugh.

"It's deserved, I know. Your arm will be fixed shortly and then you'll have your chance. Or perhaps you might torture me with horrendous rap music again?" he asked playfully as she laughed softly as her eyes closed. She could feel tears rolling down her face. "The form of retribution is yours to choose, my girl. I will not deny you that," he said as she opened her eyes again and looked up at him. "Now, just try to relax, Anna. You'll be back to your old self very soon," he said as he backed away. "My apologies Miss Vought, I will not be in your way again," she heard Max say as she closed her eyes.

'Max?' Rogue called out into the darkness.

'Yes, Anna?' the fragment asked.

'You- you said you wanted to show me something?' she asked.

'Actually, it was my counterpart who-' he stated to say.

'I don't care which of you it was right now. The two of you wanted ta show me something right?'

'Yes,' he answered.

'So go ahead before I change my mind,' she said. Within a moment she felt herself being pulled into his mind and into a memory.

She was Magneto, staring down at herself. She knew this memory; they were both sitting in the kitchen of the Xavier Institute. This was one of the longest days of her life. It was the first time he had allowed her to be aware that he was holding her captive in her home.

"Are…are you in love with me?" Rogue asked breathlessly.

'What?' Magneto thought; caught completely off guard by the question. 'No, I care about her of course. But I'm not-' he thought as he ran his hands up and down her arms. 'That is- Is that what this feeling is?' he asked himself as he stared into her eyes.

'I look at you, Anna, and I think about everything I wish to show you; to teach you. I look down onto that beautiful face of yours and I think about how much I would like to see you smile and laugh. I think about how desperately I wish to be the cause of those emotions,' he thought. He leaned in and kissed her. He smiled against her lips as he felt her lean into him. He broke it a few moments later. 'Yes, I... I know this feeling,' he thought as he sat back in his seat.

"Eric?" she asked. He sighed happily as he brushed her hair behind her ear tenderly.

"Yes, yes I am," he answered.

Rogue pulled out of the memory.

'You really are in love with me,' she thought lay there for a few minute accepting what she had seen as fact, replaying the memory as many times as she needed to.

'Anna,' the fragment shouted.

'Yeah?' she asked as she pulled out the memory.

'You've absorbed Victor a few minutes ago. I thought you would like to know,' he said.

'Thanks,' she said as she opened her eyes.

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

'She really cared about me,' Rogue thought.

'I'm afraid, Anna, you don't the half of it. Once you regain the urge to learn about your past, I'll explain,' the fragment said.

'Thanks,' she thought as she sat up. She glanced up at Max once she was in the position she wanted to sit in. It was just the two of them now, and an unconscious Victor. Not that her father counted given his state.

"Max," Rogue called out softly. She watched he turned to face her. "Could you sit down? You and me need to talk," she told him

"With pleasure, Anna," Max answered. She seemed very tense sitting up in the bed, he noticed as he walked toward her. 'Perhaps because she's wearing so little,' he thought to himself. In the process of healing Amelia had to cut away most of her clothing to get at the cuts. She was dressed only in a bra, underwear, and a large amount of fur-like hair covered almost every inch of her body. Although, the cuts were gone the blood they produced were not. A strange mix of hers, Juggernaut's, and quite possibly his own blood, covered her body, drying in the hair. He wasn't sure she even realized the state she was in.

"Wouldn't you like to shower first before we speak?" he asked.

"What do you-" she started to ask as she glanced down at her body. She gasped. "I didn't realize that I was still-" she started to say as tears formed in her eyes. He had lost count of how many times she had woken up in anguish after nightmares of blood filled carnage.

"Shh," Max hushed as he rushed to her side and sat on the bed in front of her. He placed glove-covered hands on her shoulders. She leaned her head forward, resting it against his chest as she cried softy. 'For her to actually be living though a situation like this, to know that these memories are hers alone- …' he mused. "My dear girl, I am so sorry to have caused you this pain," he murmured as he gently caressed the top of her head.

"I wish you would stop saying that," she whispered.

"What?" he asked. He watched her lift her head off his chest and gaze into his eyes.

"You keep saying you're sorry, but then something else fucked up happens to me because of you. I know… I know now that you love me and I appreciate that. I care about you too, Max way more than I should. But how sorry can you really be when you're still willing to keep me from seeing people I love? If Juggernaut didn't show up today I'd be in Jericho with you trying to talk you into letting me come home, again," she stressed. "This needs to stop. I can't handle being your captive anymore and I shouldn't have to," she said strongly.

"Anna, I never meant to-" he started to say before he heard a knock at the door.

'Damn it,' Rogue thought frustrated. They were finally getting somewhere. "We can't be seen like this. Logan will freak out," she said.

"I know," he said as he removed his hands and stood up. He took a seat in the chair next to her bed. "Yes," he asked annoyed as they both turned their heads towards the door.

"Hello?" Kurt asked sheepishly as he cracked the door open. He stuck his head in and caught sight of Rogue. "Oh sorry," he said quickly as he closed his eyes. Rogue couldn't help but smile.

"It's alright, Kurt," Rogue said with a soft laugh. She was overjoyed to be speaking to her little brother.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, I'm- I'm gonna live. I'm fine, Kurt," she said.

"That's a relief," Kurt sighed joyfully.

"Kurt, I - all I wanna do right now is tell you to come here and hug me like crazy," Rogue said, tears forming in her eyes again. "But I'm really, really gross right now and I don't wanna get blo-" she started to say but hesitated. She couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. She gasped as she felt Max's hand on hers.

"But," Max started to say as she made eye contact, "she doesn't wish to get any sweat on you, Mr. Wagner. Your sister's very considerate," Max finished for her.

"Thanks," she mouthed. He nodded with a smile as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Kurt, could you ask Kitty to go into-" Rogue started to ask as Kitty phrased through Kurt and the door; Max let go of her hand before her roommate saw them.

"Kitty," Kurt exclaimed.

"What? I heard my name. We're, like, in an emergency," she said as she completely passed through him and into the room. "Oh my god, Rogue," she gasped as she caught sight of Rogue.

"That ba-" Rogue started to say as Max stood up from the chair. She glanced up at him curiously as he pulled his trench coat off the back of his chair. "Eric, what are you-" she started to ask. She gasped as Logan and Scott busted into room.

"Whoa," Kurt exclaimed as he was pushed into the room.

"Rogue?" Scott asked alarmed as Max draped his coat over her body.

"I'm fine," Rogue said annoyed as she pulled the coat up over her chest. "Kurt, I got something covering me now. You can open your eyes," she said with a smile.

"Everything is alright," Max said as he retook his seat. Kurt grinned at Rogue as he gave her a thumbs-up.

"Not with you in the room," Wolverine said with malice. "I felt what ya did before, bucket head," he said irate as he lifted his hand.

'He tried to take out his claws and Max won't let him?' she guessed. Rogue had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. She had heard the fight Logan and Victor had tried to start before Max had to go out into the hall and yell at them both. He actually had to order Victor to the opposite side of the hallway to keep them apart.

"Ya mean, how he kept you and Victor from trying to rip each other to pieces while I was bleeding to death," she said annoyed. "How dare he," Rogue said sarcastically as she watched both Scott and Logan's eyes widen in shock. "Magneto may be a kidnapping, staking, manipulative, jackass, who doesn't know how to take no for an answer. But at least he understands when it's time to call a truce and save someone's life. My life, Logan," she said strongly.

"Kid, I," Logan started to say; he had an apologetic look on his face.

"I get it, Logan. I got it from Victor's point of view. You two look at each other and all ya see is red. But there's a time and a place for shit like that. So, Magneto kept you two from going at it. Even if he violated your personal space and kept ya from using your claws against Victor, you two were in a small hallway with a bunch of teenagers. I know you would never hurt anyone. But Magneto's only frame of reference of you is during battles where's there's plenty of room to dice up the half the landscape. Was it really so wrong of him to keep the fight between you and Victor from escalating to that point?" she asked.

"No, I- I guess it wasn't," Logan admitted begrudgingly. "But what about when this truce ends, then what?" he asked.

"It's not going to," Magneto said. Her eyes immediately went to his as she took a deep breath. "Unless you're objecting, Anna?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow as he leaned forward in his seat; staring at her intently.

"I'm not," Rogue spoke up quickly. "I'm tired of fighting you, Eric," she admitted.

"As am I," Max said. She knew it was true and that he was just as tired of fighting as she was. It was one of the many reasons he had offered her a place by his side. "I came back into your life to help you gain control over your powers, not to hold you captive for the rest of your life. But you have access to so much I refuse to allow Charles to be aware of: secrets I have never told another living soul, never mind my enemies," he said.

"I know. Doesn't mean I like it," she said.

"I may not have had to keep secrets from loved ones but I do understand the pains in doing so," Max said.

"Half the time I feel like your accomplice 'cause of it. I hate feeling like this," she said. She wasn't saying nearly as much as she wanted to and she knew he was holding back as well. There was only so much they could discuss openly in front of the others.

"A traitor?" he said. She nodded sadly. "We'll need to discuss the terms of this truce," he said. She nodded again.

"Tonight's not really good. I need ta get cleaned up. Getting all this hair off is gonna take forever. And I really need to go to school tomorrow. I shouldn't miss another day," she told him.

"Dinner tomorrow then?" Max asked.

"Okay, and before ya ask, I'm fine with sea food," she said, causing Max to smirk. They both knew which restaurant they were going to be eating at the next night. "I'm sure Prof won't mind either," she said nonchalantly. His smirk faded.

"Must you bring Charles?" Max groaned, she heard Logan snort next to her.

"Yes, I must," she said annoyed. "This truce between us is gonna affect all the X-Men, ain't it?" she asked.

"Yes," he said dryly.

"Then he needs to be there as leader of the X-Men," she stated.

"Very well," he sighed. "But you and I do need to have a conversation in private. There are aspects of this truce we can't speak of in front Charles. There's a list we need to draw up" he said.

'List?' she asked herself. 'Right, so I can't get away with talking about," she thought rolling her eyes. 'Wait a minute,' she thought as her eyes widened. 'When we ended the other deal we never made a new list of what I couldn't tell Prof. So, technically, I never promised to not tell anyone I was being blackmailed. It was only implied that I wouldn't. Truce or no truce, he can't remove me because of what I told Prof, right?' she herself happily. "... I do love exploiting loopholes," she said staring into his eyes. His eyes were narrowed for a moment before they lightened as he sighed.

"I'm aware," he with a soft chuckle. "Forgive me for taking precautions to keep you from doing so," he smirked. The word 'again' remained unstated, hanging in the air between the two of them.

"I understand," she laughed.

"Is there some joke the rest of us ain't getting?" Logan asked annoyed.

"Yes, actually," Max answered dryly as he stood up. "Five o' clock?" he asked Rogue, once again ignoring the others.

"I gotta-" she started to say.

"Ask Charles," Max finished, slightly irritated.

"Yeah," she shrugged gleefully.

"Call me later tonight, when you can, to confirm. But don't give Charles my phone number," he said annoyed.

"I won't," she smiled, suppressing the urge to laugh at his tone.

"And speaking of my phone, I left it in that coat," he said gesturing to it with his hand.

"Oh right," she said as she stuck her hand in the coat's left pocket and took it out. "Here," she held it out for him.

"Thank you," he took it out of her hand. "Just one more thing, this comment I am addressing to my counterpart in your mind," he said. Her eyes widened in shock. "Answer any and all questions or concerns she has honestly," he said.

"Meaning what? The fragment's been lying to her?" Logan asked outraged.

"Logan, please, not now," Rogue asked desperately. "I'm still too burnt-out for that kinda conversation," she said.

"Kid," he started to say.

"I know. I'm concerned to, but whatever it is, it can wait a few hours, okay?" she almost pleaded. Logan sighed.

"Anna," Max said; calling for her attention. "I am sorry for all of it. I never meant to cause you such pain, ever. I hope you know that," he said.

"I do, Eric," she said softly. He held her gaze for another moment before backing away.

"If you'll excuse me," Max said as he headed towards the exit.

"...Wait, Eric?" Rogue asked.

"Yes?" Max asked as he turned to face her again.

"Could you take him with you?" she asked her head gesturing towards Victor. "Without you here to mediate things-," she started to say.

"I understand," Max said with the slightest trace of annoyance in his voice.

"Do ya mind?" she asked.

"Doing you a favor, no, not at all," Max said, smiling reassuringly at her, before he walked over to the bed Victor was lying on.

'Well, if he doesn't mind,' she thought as Max picked Victor up and threw him over his shoulder. "And hm- ...Could you tell Victor that I'll call him, like, Thursday for a rain-check on that big mac we were supposed to get tonight?" Rogue asked.

"I'll pass the message along," Max said as he walked towards the door; Scott and Logan moved to give Max room to exit.

"Thank you," she called out as he exited.

"You're welcome," he said as he closed the door behind him with his powers. Rogue let out a sigh in relief.

"Man, I didn't understand half that conversation you two were having," Scott said bewildered.

"You weren't supposed to," Rogue said honestly. "Kitty," she started to ask before Scott or Logan could comment on her statement, "could you please go to our room and get-" she started to ask.

"Everything?" Kitty finished with a smile.

"Yeah," Rogue laughed.

"I'm like four steps ahead of you, Rogue. Jean?" Kitty called out. A moment later Jean walked into the room with a towel and some of Rogue's cloths in her arms and an assortment of items floating around her: shampoo, conditioner, soap, razors, and various other necessities.

"Do you want to take a shower while I heat up the wax?" Jean asked.

"Jean, you have no have no idea how much I love that plan," Rogue said. Kitty giggled and Jean smiled at her.

"Okay, all boys out," Kitty ordered. "This is officially girl time," she declared as Jean headed into the bathroom with the items floating behind her.

"Unless ya all wanna watch Kitty wax my back?" Rogue asked with a smirk.

"I think I'll pass," Scott said, slightly disgusted.

"Oh, come on, Scott, it's only a little hair," Kitty teased.

"Actually, it's a lot a hair," Rogue corrected with a smile.

"Yeah, and you know it's-" Scott said as he slowly backed to the door.

"Girl time," Kurt supplied.

"Exactly, we wouldn't want to interrupt," Scott said as he placed his hand on Kurt's shoulder. Kitty giggled as she joined Jean in the bathroom.

"Besides, someone has to tell the Professor the good news," Kurt smiled. "See you later," he said as he waved at her.

"Later," Rogue said with a small smile as she watched them teleport out of the room.

"Kid, come find me when you up ta talking, alright?" Logan asked.

"I'm telling ya right now, it ain't gonna be any time today," Rogue said. He nodded.

"Feel better," Logan said sincerely as he headed for the door.

"Thanks," Rogue said as she watched him leave the room.

"Okay," Jean said as she exited the bathroom. "Everything's set up for you,"

"So, you go enjoy your, super relaxing, non-threatening, totally stress free shower. I lit candles," Kitty said bubbly.

"Lavender?" Rogue asked hopefully.

"Duh," Kitty smiled; Rogue couldn't help but laugh.

"Thanks," Rogue grinned before she stood up and entered the bathroom, ready to enjoy the next couple of hours of relaxation.

Charles Xavier sat alone outside of the ruins of his school. He had ordered Beast and Storm to go inside and see to the students. They had been left in the dark long enough. Charles could handle subduing Juggernaut alone now that the he had removed the mental blocks someone had foolishly constructed in Cain's mind. Although he was focused on the task of keeping Juggernaut from attempting to kill anyone else, there were a few questions in the back of his mind plaguing him with worriment.

'Why was she still here?' he asked himself in anguish. 'Rogue should have been with Sabertooth. Why hadn't she left, and why didn't she call for help?' he asked himself. The timing in which Magneto had arrived was too suspicious as far as Charles was concerned. But he couldn't ask Rogue for answers. 'Not today. Not this week, even.' His ward needed time to heal and he was prepared to give it to her. 'Assuming Magneto is willing to give her time as well,' he thought to himself in fear. He had no idea when Magneto would stage his next abduction but Charles knew he could not allow it to be successful.

"How much more is there that I don't know?" he asked himself under his breath.

"An insurmountable amount," Charles heard Magneto say from behind him. He quickly turned to see Magneto holding Sabertooth over his shoulder. Charles entered Magneto's mind in the stealthiest way he could manage. His only purpose in doing so was to ensure that he would know whether Magneto answered his question honestly.

"Where is Rogue?" Charles demanded to know. Magneto opened his mouth to answer as Nightcrawler and Cyclops teleported near them.

"Professor, good news," Nightcrawler exclaimed.

"Yeah, Rogue's okay," Cyclops finished.

"She is still in your infirmary where I left her to recuperate," Magneto answered with a small grin before he turned away from them and towards the van. Charles could see that he was telling the truth and of course he trusted the words of his students.

"That is good to hear," Charles said as out of the corner of his eye he saw Magneto manipulate the metal left on the van. "Thank you both of the report. Would you two please give the news to Ororo and Hank?" he asked.

"Sure, Professor," Cyclops said before Nightcrawler teleported back inside.

"And once Rogue has fully recuperated, then what?" Charles asked, looking into the man's eyes.

"She and I are meeting tomorrow night for dinner to discuss the situation," Magneto answered, still refusing to return Charles' gaze.

"She will need more time than that to recover," Charles insisted. His eyes widened in shock as Magneto chuckled. "What precisely do you find so amusing, Magnus?" he asked riled.

"You clearly don't know the girl as well as you think you do," he said with a soft chuckle as they finally made eye contact. "Mark these words, in a few hours from now, Rogue is going to demand to speak with you privately, and given the trial by ordeal she has been forced to endure these past few week-"

"Because of you," Charles interrupted. He watched Magneto's eyes narrow in anger.

"Did I force her to search her past for answers? No," he answered strongly. "Did I force her to stay up half the night finishing pointless blueprints? No. Did I force her not to eat for over twenty four hours? Agai-"

"You been spying on all of us, haven't you? As the fragment?" he accused.

"Yes, Charles, I have," he answered dismissively. "As, I was saying, Rogue is the one who choose to endure all of those trials of her own volition," he said strongly.

"Did she choose to be kidnapped, Magneto? Did she choose to become the object of your obsession?" Charles asked.

"... I believe we were mutually ensnared by one another. This afternoon you asked Rogue how she feels while in my company. She did not tell you everything," he said. Once again, Charles psychically knew Magneto was telling the truth. Charles sat thoughtfully as he watched Magneto turn back to the metal.

'Of course, there's more to their relationship. Rogue only just told me that Magneto's been blackmailing her. She did not tell me for how long or even why. I could surmise that she knew too much about Magneto's plans. That he-' he thought as he watched Magneto float into the air toward the two metal spheres he had formed.

"Magneto," Charles protested as he watched him place Sabertooth in one of the spheres.

"I do not have all night to stand here and address your inquires, Charles. Ask Anna," he ordered. "She'll be positively elated to speak with you about the subject given the freedom she has been given tonight to do so uninhibited," he said.

'Tonight?' he thought to himself; the way Magneto had stated it made it sound as through it would only be temporary. "Her freedom should never be in question," Charles said in disgust.

"Agreed," Magneto said darkly much to Charles' surprise. Magneto turned to face him. "Do you think I wanted to threaten Anna, to blackmail her?" he asked incredulously.

"To abduct her," Charles added. Magneto glanced away from him before smirking. In his mind he saw an image of Rogue. She was sitting in a metal chair. In front of her was a chess set. There was a large smirk on Rogue's face before she laughed. The sound of her laughter echoed though both of their minds. At least it had until he felt himself expelled out of Magneto's mind, the force of which knocked him to the ground causing his chair to fall on him.

'Professor?' he heard a voice call out to him troubled.

'I'm alright, Jean, nothing for you to concern yourself over,' he thought lying to the best of his ability.

"I thought I felt you searching," Magneto said as he saw Magnus step up to him. Charles felt hands on his shoulders pulling him up. "When are you going to learn that all your attempts to see into my mind will gain you nothing but a migraine?" he asked as Magneto placed him back in his wheelchair.

"How are you able to do that?" he asked in anguish.

"Decades of practice, Charles," he said. Charles was taken by surprise as Magneto seat down in a chair next to him. It had not been there a few moments ago. "Nearly twice as much practice as you have time for," he said.

"You are not that much older than I am," he said.

"Is that what you still believe?" Magneto laughed. "I may not be as old as your Wolverine, but it's rather close. I'm seventy-five years old Charles. Although, I look to be the same age as you, don't I?" he asked with a smirk. Charles had first met Magneto in a hospital after he had lost the use of his legs. Magneto had been working as a volunteer. The two of them talked about the hypothetical existence of mutants powers; debating the morality of the use of such powers. Through those talks they had developed, what he thought, was a good friendship.

He knew that Magneto was older than him, even back then, but he didn't think the gap was that significant. Now he knew without a doubt that the man had mislead him. He shuttered to think what other lies Magneto had told him.

"What do you think that statement says about your relationship with Rogue? You're over four times her age," he said.

"Surely, you noticed the advance nature of cognitive ability? The way she is able to put two and two together faster than most of your students can think a single thought? Most of the time, you find yourself able to keep up in conversations with her only if you happen to know the subject matter before she does," he said.

"...Yes, of course, I've noticed," Charles said quietly.

"It's a mental genetic advantage," he said with a smirk. "Her words not mine," he said happily. "That game of chess you witnessed the two of us playing. It was first time she'd played against me. She won," he told Charles.

"What?" Charles asked in disbelief. "Rogue told me that the first time she'd ever played was four months ago," he muttered.

"It was one of the first game she'd ever played and yes, she won," Magneto stated. "That's a feat you've never been able to accomplish yourself," he taunted. It was the truth. He and Magneto had been playing for years. Out of respect for the game and their friendship he had never read his opponent's mind.

After Magneto had declared checkmate he always laughed softly and told him that was how one improved - by playing against those who were better than you. They usually reset the pieces and played again to similar results. Magneto never seemed to tire of winning. At the time he thought Magneto was being a good friend who was simply encouraging him to learn from his mistakes. Now he suspected he had only been feeding his own ego.

"How did Rogue win against a master strategist?" Charles asked.

"By being one herself," Magneto stated. "She didn't know the game well enough to beat me outright. So, she used other means to gain the advantage," he said.

"How?" he asked alarmed.

"She manipulated my emotions," he said with a smile. "She knew what to say, how to taunt me so that my anger would cloud my judgment. All in a ploy to distract me from planning my moves well enough to counter hers. At the time I was irritated beyond belief. In retrospect, it was the most brilliantly challenging game I'd ever played," he said with a smirk.

"And to answer the question I know is on the tip of your tongue Charles, yes, I was holding her captive at the time. We were in her bedroom, for hours on end while you weren't home. And both she and I enjoyed ourselves immensely. In many ways," he said with a chuckled.

"That's deranged, Magnus," he said.

"Charles, that naivety of yours lost its charm over a decade ago. And I honestly do not have time to debate morality with a hopeless idealist such as yourself," he said as he stood up. "I will see you tomorrow night Charles for the negotiations," he said.

"What kind of negotiations?" Charles said alarmed.

"For the truce," he answered.

"Truce?" he asked confused. Magneto sighed.

"Ask Anna," he ordered again. "She will have far more patience for your endless questioning than I will," he said.

"Magn-" Charles started to say.

"Save it for tomorrow, Charles," he said as he lowered himself into the sphere. "And I suggest you allow Rogue to do most of the arguing. She's far more skilled at it than you are. Especially when I am her opponent," he said before he settled into the sphere and sealed it. Charles watched them both fly away.

Every time he talked to either Rogue or Magneto he left with twice as many questions then he had started with.

'They have only been speaking to one another for three months - less than three months. How much could I possibly not know?' he asked himself. 'I don't care what Magnus said, I am not questioning her tonight. She has been through enough,' he thought with conviction. 'Tomorrow, we'll talk. Only if she offers the conversation,' he thought, satisfied with his decision.

Thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed it! If not tell me why? Feedback always helps!