Hey everyone! Sorry, it took me so long to update! But I just got a second job so I spent a lot of time working now! Why do I have to pay bills? Ah XP. I'll getting used to my new workload but once that happens I'll get into rhythm and updating will happen more frequently. Thanks for reading and thank you to everyone for voting! It was yes! So, you guys get to hear more details about the emergence!
Please enjoy!
Taunting Repartee
Chapter Forty-Five
"So?" Rogue heard Max ask her as she glanced down at him.
"Fine, I won't start listing stipulations until we met for the truce-" Rogue said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"That is not what I meant. I merely wanted you to be aware I've noticed a pattern in arguing style," he said.
"I also say, fuck, a lot and I use verbs," Rogue said condescendingly. Magneto stared up at her; his face emotionless. But in his eyes she saw amusement. "Ya wanna point out those details too, captain obvious?" she asked pretending to be annoyed. Magneto placed his hand over his mouth for a moment. She could tell he was trying not to smirk.
"Would you, please, sit down so I can put the shield up already?" Magneto said gesturing towards the seat.
"Fine," she huffed assumed, "but if ya stopped being a lying, manipulative, jackass ya wouldn't have anything to apologize for," Rogue told him with a smirk. "And-" she said in English before she switched to speaking German, "If you weren't such an insufferable bastard we would probably have sex more often," she told him in German. She didn't want anyone else in the room to judge her for the comment. Max chuckled loudly.
"You are implying that you would you like to have-" Max started to reply in German before Rogue nodded slightly while smirking. "Then we're going to have to do something about my bastard like tendencies, it seems, because I refuse to get in my own way when it comes to that," he said jokingly. Rogue laughed in response as she sat down.
"...But, seriously, Max," she said as she gazed into his eyes, "if this apology was convenient for you, it wouldn't mean a god damn thing," Rogue told him in English.
"I know," Max said seriously. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw the dome reappear over them. She didn't even feel like yelling at him anymore. Sure, there were topics she could bring up to get herself started but she wasn't in the mood any longer. She felt relaxed, safe, in control and a little aroused. Not that she had any intention of acting on her desire to touch him; not here.
She glanced outside of it for a moment and instantly wished she hadn't. Everyone was staring at her. The Professor looked confused and hurt. Logan and Graydon both looked angry and disgusted. She quickly turned back towards Magneto but even as she turned her face she could feel their glares.
"Max, could you make it so they can't see us?" Rogue asked.
"Yes," he answered with a raised eyebrow as he did what she asked.
"Thanks," she said as she leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes as she took another deep breath.
"Are you feeling alright, Anna?" he asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she sighed. "I don't wanna be stared at," she said.
"Should I close my eyes, then?" Max asked lightheartedly. She let out a soft laugh as she opened her eyes.
"No, I don't mind ya looking at me... as long as I know you're there," she added as she glanced around.
"Is there something you want?" he asked; ignoring her second statement.
"Nothing important. I just wish I could put my feet up on something," she told him. He surprised her as moved forward a few inches. "What are you-" she started to ask as he reached down, took her feet in his hands and placed them on his lap.
"Better?" he asked as their eyes met.
"Yeah," she said with a slight smile. He smiled at her as he started to massage her foot. She watched him study her face. No doubt searching for some sign of approval. She closed her eyes and let her body go limp against the chair. He chuckled. "...I'm still mad at you," she muttered.
"That hardly means you cannot take solace in my company."
"...I know," she muttered, utterly content in his company. She let out a blissful moan as Max applied more pressure to his massage. "Ah, fuck-" she exclaimed; the caress had hurt in just the right way to bring a flush of color to her face and quicken her breath. 'I can't do this here, not with-' she thought as he paused his massage.
"Do you wish for me to stop?" Magneto asked.
"No, I really, really, don't. That feels amazing," Rogue said. That was more than enough of an invitation for him. He stared into her eyes as he resumed his massage. The heated gaze that meet his was intoxicating. If they were in a bedroom he would already be trying to remove her shirt. But the situation called for a little more subtlety. "But they're out there," she said desperately as he watched her moved her pelvis in time with his massage.
"And we are in here, away from them. Out of their sight as you requested, my girl. Let's not think of them at this moment, Anna," he said coaxingly as he slowly moved his hands a few inches further up her leg; her eyes closing. His advances tonight had to be slow. Each touch so gently as though asking for permission to continue. No caress could be a surprise, no movement too quick; or else her natural reaction, along with Juggernaut's strength, could severely injure him.
"Give yourself just a few minutes, Anna. God knows after all you've endured in the name of defending those you love that you, my love, desire five minutes of unbridled passion. A reward of sorts," he uttered as he hands slid up to his her things; his upper body leaning over her legs to reach forward. He considered, for a moment, placing her feet on the ground, but decided against it.
As they were now, if Anna didn't wish for him to touch her she had the choice to kick him. She wouldn't, he was fairly sure, but he knew she would appreciate his vulnerability and the advantage she had in this position.
Her legs were pressed tightly together as he kissed the tops of both her kneecaps. The cotton on his lips wasn't unpleasant but he wished he was kissing her skin, nonetheless. Her body was shaking slightly now as his thumbs brushed against her inner thighs. Slowly he slid his thumbs further and further up her thighs; causing her to moan loudly as he finally brushed up against her groin. He glanced up, her head was thrown back against the chair's headrest. His eyes widened with surprise as he saw tears running down her face.
"Anna?" he asked concerns. Her eye fluttered open and met his. She was clearly upset. "What's wrong?" he asked as he sat up. She surprised him when she stood up and sat on his lap; her legs draped across his. He cupped her face as she rested her head against his chest. "It's not something I did, then?" he asked.
"No," she sighed softly. "You're just being you, Max, I don't blame ya for that. I- It's just," she started to say as she picked up her head and gazed into his eyes. "Half my family is in the same room as us," she exclaimed. "And as much as I wanna do this with you; I won't. Not with them right there," she told him as she closed her eyes. He watched her take deep breaths.
"We could go elsewhere," he offered gently. She shook her head no.
"Not tonight," she told him as she gazed up at him. "There's way too much going on. You know that," she said slightly annoyed..
"Yes, I do," he sighed. "Anna-" he started to say.
"Do we have ta talk, Max?" she asked taking him by surprise. "I know we have a lot of stuff to talk about and we'll get around to it. But right now could we just- could ya just hold me for while? No talking? Could we just have a quiet moment?" she asked. She sounded tired.
"Of course, we can, my love" he said tenderly as he brushed some of her hair behind her ear. He kissed the top of her head. She sighed blissfully as he watched her closed her eyes. "Of course, we can," he repeated as he held her too him tightly.
'Like, I said,' Emma started to say with a smirk once the magnetic dome reappeared, 'your sister has some serious power over Magneto.' Graydon could feel the four X-men's eyes on them as he glanced at the dome. His eyes widened as the dome started to crackle with magnetic energy; making it impossible to see inside. He really would feel better if he could just see Rogue. But once again Magneto was keeping her from view.
"It's still demented," Graydon said bitterly as he turned to face Emma. "And I really, really, don't like it," he said as they made eye contact.
"No one's expecting you to," Emma said gently as she placed a hand on his arm. "She's your baby sister you're not going to like anyone she dates," she said with a small smile.
"Em, he's not some kid asking her to prom. He's a dirty old man doing god knows what to her every time he gets her alone," Graydon said as Wolverine growled.
"And how many times has that been?" Wolverine asked.
"We don't know exactly," Emma answered. 'And what if she likes god knows what?' Emma asked.
"Em," Graydon started to protest as Wolverine growled in the background.
'During that whole time Magneto was pretending to be telepathic I was monitoring their conversation. Rogue was having fun,' she stressed. 'She likes him and the way he makes her feel. I know you don't want to hear this, but from what I've been forced to gleam she enjoys their sexual relationship as long as it's on equal terms. A month ago my fear was that he was forcing her into doing things she didn't want to,' Emma thought.
'He ripped her shirt off of her and promised her they were going to have sex sometime that night no matter her opinion. What else was I supposed to think?' Emma thought incredulously. 'But after watching that exchange? Graydon if anything she's the one taking advantage. Maybe it's mutual?' she finished.
'You really think so?' Graydon asked.
'Have you ever seen anyone talk to him the way she does?'
'No,' Graydon said shaking his head.
'Neither have I. You said yourself she called him an asshole to his face and he laughed. We both saw that. If anyone can handle Magneto, I think it's Rogue,' she said.
"She shouldn't have to handle anything," Graydon argued.
"But what if she wants to?" Emma asked. "Are you going to tell her she's not allowed to be with him. Are you going to tell Magneto that?" she asked wide. Graydon didn't say anything. "If it's mutual then what can do? It certainly looks that way, doesn't it? They were just laughing together. That's not the first time we've seen that. I have more times than I can count. But we can ask her later," Emma offered as Graydon sighed.
"When ever the two of you are ready?" Charles Xavier asked guardedly.
"Just give us a moment," Emma said not bothering to look over at him. 'Graydon, we don't have the power to change anything between them. And we don't even know if Rogue wants us to or not. All we can do if offer the support Magneto will allow and get back to our own lives,' she stressed "What else can we do?" Emma asked with a shrug. 'Defect,' she thought while rolling her eyes. 'to the losing side? To Xavier's? We've both seen how inaff-'
'I know, I know,' Graydon thought quickly. He had heard her rant about Charles Xavier's institute one too many times.
'I know you, Graydon. You may not agree with Magneto's relationship with Rogue but you do believe in his cause. Our cause. A better future for the next generation of mutants. A future where our kind can't be hunted down and killed because of a gene they inherited at birth.'
'But why do have to work for him?' he said annoyed; although he already knew the answer.
'Who else is there?' she asked. 'What could we accomplish on our own? We work for Magneto because he's the one with the resources, the plan-"
'We don't even know how many of us there are following his orders,' Graydon thought.
'Exactly! We also don't know who else he has within the government. Rogue made it sound like dozens when she was talking to Magneto, but who know? Graydon, we have no way of making contact with them. Even if we did, we don't know if they would accept our help without Magneto's approval. In the event they did we would still be fighting Magneto's war, only we would even more in the dark than we already are! As much as I hate to admit it, if we hope to be useful in this fight we need Magneto's leadership,' she thought as he let out a sigh. He hated to admit it too, but it was the truth.
"I know," he sighed.
"Any day now," Wolverine growled. Both Graydon and Emma turned towards the table behind them. The X-Men were sitting, most of them, waiting patiently for them to be come join them.
"Sorry," Graydon said as he pulled away from Emma.
'We have nothing to apologize for,' Emma thought to him as they walked up to the table.
'I'm being polite,' Graydon told her as they sat down next to each other.
Charles Xavier watched Emma Frost's mouth begin to open.
"Before you begin, Miss Frost, do either of you know how long he has been blackmailing her for?" Charles Xavier asked. Emma Frost and Graydon Creed glanced at each other again.
"Since February sixteenth," Graydon Creed answered after a moment.
"That long?" Wolverine exclaimed.
"Please tell us everything you know about what happened between them that day," Charles said as he tried to ignore Wolverine's outbursts and stay out of the man's mind. He always found it more difficult to keep out of other minds when their emotions were running high. The large amount of fear, and confusion coming from his staff was not helping his situation any.
The only person who seemed completely relaxed at the moment was, ironically, Rogue. He suspected that Magneto was as well, but had chosen not to invade his mind again today. He still had a slight headache from the expelling this afternoon.
"It's not much," Emma Frost said. Charles saw Graydon staring at her incredulously. They were clearly talking telepathically again; from their facial expressions it appeared they were arguing. "Alright fine," Emma Frost exclaimed after a moment. "Magneto was holding Rogue captive within the institute throughout most of the day. He wouldn't leave until she agreed to not tell anyone he had been there. That's when it started. When Magneto left I was ordered to leave the institute as well. I don't know what happened between them after that," Emma Frost said.
"What were they doing all day?" Charles asked.
"They talked, a lot. They played chess, ate together, talked more," she said, seemingly bored.
"When did you see her next? Was she with Magneto?" Charles asked.
"It was a week," Emma Frost said.
"Exactly a week?" Charles asked.
"Yeah," Graydon Creed said. "I found out that Magneto was trying to recruit Rogue. So, I asked to talk to her. I wasn't allowed to until the twenty-third. We were supposed to stay with her a few hours but then Magneto showed up, like, fifteen minutes after we left him," he said annoyed. "I didn't have time to really talk to her about anything. He took Rogue from us and I didn't see her again until that Monday at the restaurant," Graydon said.
"What happened at the restaurant?" Ororo asked.
"I-" Graydon Creed started to say.
"We should get to our orders. If Magneto comes into this conversation and we hadn't even started-" Emma Frost started to say.
"If you two hadn't spent so much time talking to yourselves we would've gotten to this already," Wolverine said. Charles watched Emma Frosts eyes narrow.
"I understand," Charles said. He had many questions. 'It shouldn't matter in which order they're answered,' he told himself.
"These are the few details we know about the emergence," Emma Frost started to say. "Apparently, according to Rogue, there's more to know. But this is what we know. On February twenty-eighth by ten-thirty-pm there were five teams who were to be in place within Bayville to ensure the emergence went exactly as planned. The first consisted of Mastermind and his two daughters-"
"Their names?" Hank McCoy asked.
"Magneto ordered us to keep the details to the minimum. I believe the real names of some of his most powerful telepaths is a detail he would prefer us not to tell," Emma told him. "Team one was stationed in Trask's underground fortress. Forcing Trask to believe that he was leading of a small army and has the means to construct several sentinels."
"In really Trask had only ten soldiers under his command and only enough parts to build two sentinels," Graydon said with a smirk.
"The second team consisted of Blindspot and Shan. They were holding Tabitha Smith and...," Emma paused for a moment. Graydon Creed and she looked at one another once again.
"And?" Beast asked.
"... And, you," Emma Frost said as she made eye contact with him, "Charles Xavier, captive at the Brotherhood manor," she said as his eyes widened in fear.
"Mystique didn't take me captive? Magneto did?" he asked confused.
"Technically they both did," Graydon Creed said. "Mystique was the one to take you captive but Magneto was holding her captive at the time. So, she was only allowed to take you prisoner because Magneto allowed it. And you just weren't moved to the Juggernaut's cell until the day of the emergence."
"Mystique was being controlled by telepaths on our side for the majority of the time," Emma Frost said.
"How do you people live with yourselves?" Wolverine asked as Graydon Creed glanced down at his hands. The boy was ashamed of his actions, that much was clear.
"You're Rogue's sister, correct? That must mean that Mystique is your mother?" Hank asked.
"Yeah," Graydon Creed muttered.
"What kind of person holds their own mother prisoner?" Wolverine asked in disgust.
"We here as a favor to Graydon's sister, that's all," Emma Frost said outraged. "Aside from our orders we don't have to-"
"I didn't want to," Graydon Creed screamed out in protest; unwilling to stay silent. "Mom was already a captive when we got here, so was Rogue. I had no say in that. And what the hell could I do against Magneto?" he asked.
"That depends. What are your powers, Mr. Creed?" Charles asked.
"I don't have any," Graydon said bitterly much to his surprise. "I'm powerless. What the fuck could I do?" he asked but didn't give anyone time to answer. "When I found out what Magneto was doing with Rogue I tried to go talk to him. Do you know what happened? I just wanted to talk to him about it and fucking Shan Mahn takes control over my mind, paralyzing me. I couldn't talk, I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything and all I tired to do was knock on his office's door," he said before he let a groan of frustration.
"I can't free people who Mahn controls," Emma Frost explained; Charles saw anger behind her eyes.
"And even if I could we were outnumbered. Cordelia and Besty would have sided with us."
"So would my dad if he knew," Graydon said. "But none of them were there at the restaurant. It was just me, Emma, and Rogue," he explained.
"I have a feeling that was not accidence," Charles said as Graydon Creed nodded.
"Nor do we. If we had started a fight Rogue would have been protected. Magneto would have seen to that but Graydon's safety is not his concern. If anything had happened to him because of a fight I foolishly might have started-" Emma Frost started to say.
"Of course," Charles said with a nod.
"I explained as much to Rogue. She knew why we had to follow Magneto's orders," she said.
"Which were?" Charles asked.
"I took Rogue out to our car and wait for further instructions. I did what I was told for Graydon's sake," Emma said with conviction as Graydon Creed took her hand in his. Charles watch them kiss.
"I love you too, Em. I'm sorry I not-"
"Graydon, you can't help that the gene shipped a generation. That's not your fault and it's nothing to apologize for," Emma said strongly.
"It certainly is not, Mr. Creed," Charles agreed.
"...May I ask what else happened that night?" Hank McCoy asked. Charles watched Graydon Creed's eyes narrow once again.
"I had to listen to Magneto's lecture about why fucking him would make Rogue a better a person," Graydon Creed said in anger. Wolverine growled at the comment.
"That's not how he put it," Emma Frost reminded him delicately.
"It's what he implied," Graydon snapped. "I didn't believe it for a second and once he realized that he started to make threats. He had plans for Rogue. He wanted to teach her so much about life and the world and strategy," he said incredulously. "And they was no way in hell he was going to let a pathetic human like me stand in the way of his future goals. I was told that if I tried to interfere in any way I would never see my sister again," he finished furious.
"You two were as much prisoners as the rest of us," Hank said thoughtfully.
"Funny, Rogue said the same to me that night," Emma mused as she glanced over at the dome. Charles did as well. The threat; the man who had taken every person in that room captive was still in it. "We should get back to our orders," she said; her tone turning serious once again.
"Please do," Charles said.
"The third team comprised of myself and my sister Cordelia. We were to ensure the compliance of all the members of the X-Men's and brotherhood's members," Emma said.
"Meaning what exactly?" Ororo asked in fear. "What did you do to us?" she asked.
"Mostly we kept all of you from realizing anything was wrong. A few of you realized that Mystique was acting suspiciously. We kept those suspicions from turning into allegations," Emma Frost explained as the tone of the room turned even more tense. "Team four," Emma went on, "comprised of Amelia Voght and Elisabeth Braddock. They were to ensure the survival of all mutants present during the destruction of the institute," she said.
"Magneto destroyed our home?" Hank asked.
"Yes," Graydon Creed said.
"Why? What did he gain from it?" Ororo asked confused.
"We don't know," Graydon said.
"Maybe it was a threat to Rogue?" Hank asked. "He demanded her do something and when she refused him maybe he destroyed the institute to teach her a lesson of some sort?"
"I don't believe so," Charles said. "Rogue has been cooperating with Magneto. She told me as much this morning."
"Maybe she only started cooperating after he destroyed the institute?" Hank asked.
"Possibly," Charles said gravely. "It's yet another question I have for her... Who was on the fifth team?" he asked as their eyes met.
"Magneto, Colossus, Gambit, Pyro, and Sabertooth," Emma answered. "They revealed mutants to the world. That's all we know. Magneto chose not to tell us anything else," Emma finished. Charles took a deep breath. It was a lot to take in but he would have to reflect later. Until Magneto took the option away he had to find as many answers to his questions as he could.
"That night you at the restaurant what else happened?"
"After Magneto threatened me he called Emma to order them to come back into the building but something was wrong. So, Magneto and I ran out to the car. When we got there he ordered Rogue to write out a transcript of the conversation Em and her had just had," Graydon Creed said.
."Why?" Hank asked. Graydon Creed shrugged.
"Rogue and I talked about how I wanted to go in to Magneto's office, get Graydon and just go back home to Washington. But Magneto had given me an order to stay in the car and no ones disobey a direct order from Magneto. As Rogue was doing that Graydon explained everything Magneto told him in his office. Magneto read the conversation and then he ordered all of us to stay silent. Rogue he ordered out loud. He told me telepathically. I relayed the order to Graydon," Emma Frost said.
"And then Magneto dislocated my shoulder," Graydon Creed said in anger, "while he was telling us how invaluable we were to him. It took all the self control I have not to scream," he said resentfully.
"Rogue didn't notice you were in pain?" Hank asked confused. "She usually very observant."
"She was too terrified to notice and she also had to follow Magneto's order the same as us. We had to listen to his rant and we all four of us knew it was lies," Emma Frost said. "After Magneto was done talking out loud he told me telepathically to bring Graydon back into the restaurant. He said if either of us looked at her it would be the last time we'd see her," Emma finished.
"Magneto wanted Rogue to believe that you believed him?" Hank asked out loud.
"It's the only conclusion that makes sense," Emma Frost agreed.
"We don't know what happened after that. Magneto said he was going to bring her back here to the institute but I stayed up all night waiting to see her again. They never came back," Graydon Creed said frustrated.
"What the hell were you two doing here?" Wolverine asked annoyed.
"It's where we were ordered to go," Emma Frost told him dryly.
"Where did Magneto take Rogue?" Ororo asked quickly.
"We still don't know, or for how long. Cargrill could have been impersonating her her weeks," Graydon Creed answered.
"Who is Cargrill? A shape-shifter?" Ororo asked.
"No, she was just wearing a image inductor. She was really good at sounding like Rogue though. It was actually really creepy seeing her pretend to Rogue," Graydon Creed told them.
"I see," Charles said.
"I tried using Cerbro to find her or Magneto. But it was no use. There wa-"
"Miss Frost, I am fully aware how daunting a task attempting to find Magneto is. I have never been able to locate him using it myself," Charles said.
"I tried calling Magneto that morning," Graydon Creed went on. "But it went to his voice-mail. He called back later that afternoon. When we demanded to see Rogue he started making threats again. Before we even had time to consider our options he shot them all down. Telling us how futile fighting him would be and that he wouldn't bring Rogue back to the institute ever if we even tried to defy him," he said frustrated.
"There was nothing else for us to do. We had to follow Magneto's orders. Even if he wasn't blackmailing us no one disobeys Magneto. I have never suffered the consequences of disobeying an order, nor do I ever wish to," Emma Frost said.
"But we did everything he asked of us and all I wanted in return was to see my sister. To make sure she was okay but he wouldn't allow it," Graydon Creed exclaimed. "We were exiled from Bayville right after the emergence," he said resentfully. "This is the first time I've seen Rogue since that night And now instead of talking to her, Magneto is keeping her from us again," he exclaimed irate.
"We'll have our chance, Graydon. Magneto's-" Emma Frost started say before the dome dissipated; revealing Magneto hold Rogue in his arms. Charles open his mouth speak, as did Wolverine.
"Shh," Magneto hushed quickly. "She's asleep," he explained in a whisper as they made eye contact. Charles quickly looked at Rogue and scanned her mind. She wasn't fully asleep yet, but certainly looked as though she was.
'Rogue, are you alright?' Charles asked.
'Yeah,' she thought to him. 'I'm just tired really tired. Can we talk tomorrow, Prof, please?' she asked.
'See you in morning,' he said to her. "Ororo would you please escort Magneto to Rogue's room?" he asked.
"Charles, I know where it is," Magneto said dryly.
"That is not why I asked her to and you know it," he said.
"Miss. Pride has already retired for the night, has she n-" he started to argue before he groaned. "It'll be faster if I just go along with this, won't it?" he asked dryly.
"Yes, it would," Charles said.
"Fine. Miss, Munroe if you would please?" he said as he headed for the elevator.
"Magneto, what do you plan to do once Rogue's in her room," he asked as Ororo rushed after him into the elevaator.
"Leave," he said before the elevator doors closed.
Yay! I updated! Thank you to everyone who voted! I really appreciate it! Please review!
Oh, and just to let anyone know. I'm slowly working on a new story to go along with this one. It's going to be called Individual Repartee! Basically, it will show the back-stories of people like the Professor, Amelia Vought, or Emma Frost. Anyone who has a huge change from their comic's counterpart or is just unknown to the X-Men evolution. I'm currently working on Amelia's and that will be the first chapter. That being said if anyone has any questions about a characters back story please ask and I will add it to my list of chapters to write for Individual Repartee. Thank you for reading!