Sorry for the super slow updating! I've been working crazy 50 hour weeks and I've been spending my weekends studying for my exam! Speakign of which: I finally passed my licensing exam! Hm...one of three. Updating going to be slow for a while.

But as always, thank you for reading and please review!

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Taunting Repartee

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Rogue sat on her bed and glared at the bundle of letters from her father. It was Tuesday morning and she still hadn't opened any of them and wasn't sure if she was ever going to. Sighing, she dialed Victor's cell phone number.

"Hi," she said once the dull ringing abruptly stopped.

"Hey," she heard him grumble.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked.

"Yeah, but it's fine. My alarm was gonna go off in five minutes anyway," Victor replied. "What's up, kiddo?" he asked with a yawn.

"You still wanna get dinner?" she asked.

"Hell yeah," he mumbled, half awake.

A smile tugged at Rogue's lips. "How about Thursday night?" she asked.

"Thursday works. As long as nothing comes up with work," he said. Other than Mystique there were no high maintenance prisoners to look after and Magneto didn't have any major business dealings or mutant affair issues to tend to this week.

"I don't think anything's gonna come up. This week's supposed ta be quiet," she remarked.

"Oh yeah?" he muttered sounding a little more alert. "I heard this rumor that you're Magneto's second in command," he spoke slowly and probingly. "I thought you said you were with the X-Men."

"I am," she answered quickly, "but I'm also Eric's second in command. It's a long story," she started to say as she glanced at the clock. "I gotta go to school. I'll tell ya all about it on Thursday, okay? Ya wanna go to the same place we were gonna meet last time?" she asked as she looked around for her shoes.

"Yeah, sounds good. Have a good day at school," he said, voice returning to its causal tone.

"Thanks," she smiled as she found her shoes by the edge of the bed and placed them in front of her. "I hope you have a good day too."

"I'll try, fucking guard duty," he grumbled.

"Raven's in a cell. She ain't going anywhere," Rogue said rolling her eyes as she started to put on her shoes.

"You know how crafty your mother can be," Victor noted.

"She's in a medically induced coma. I don't think we have anything to be worried about," Rogue dismissed dryly as she finished tying her shoelaces. She took a deep breath: keeping Mystique as his prisoner had been one of the compromise between her and Magneto. He had refused to allow Mystique her freedom.

"She's too dangerous, Anna," Magneto had said. "She sees me an enemy and I doubt she will change her mind anytime soon. Unless you're suggesting I change it for her?' he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rogue had let the subject drop quickly after that. She had had to choose her battles with care while re-planning the emergence. A coma was less severe than telepathic enslavement. At least that's what she had told herself. In truth, she had been trying not to think about it.

'Maybe, I should bring it up,' she thought to herself as Victor commented, "I'm with you, kiddo, but orders are orders."

"You know what," she began as she stood up, "as Magneto's second in command, I'm ordering you to get at least another hour's sleep. One of us should get to," she said as she grabbed her bag off of her bed.

"You can do that?" he asked.

"My orders supersede all others, except Magneto's. Unless Eric calls and tells you to get your ass up, you're in the clear," she said.

"You're a good daughter," he mumbled as blankets ruffled in the background. She smiled at his comment.

"Rogue, we gotta go," Kitty interrupted as she phased into the room. "We're going to be late for school!"

"See ya Thursday, Victor," Rogue said as Kitty dragged her out the door.

Rogue sat on the floor with Storm in one of the gyms beneath the institute. They had been mediating together for the past twenty minutes. Rogue opened her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"How do you feel?" Ororo asked.

"Calm," Rogue answered with a serene smile.

"That's good," Ororo said as she stood up. "Would you like a bottle of water?" she offered.

"Yeah, please."

"So, how is everything else this week?" Ororo asked as she walked over to the mini-fridge.

"Okay," Rogue replied. "Surprisingly okay actually," she laughed as Ororo turned back to face her. There was a confused frown on the woman's face. "I called my dad this morning," she smiled. "We're gonna get dinner Thursday night," she said, taking the cold water bottle from her instructor's hand.

"That's nice to hear," Ororo said with a tense smile and sat down. Although Rogue saw it, she dismissed the woman's lack of sincerity and accepted her honest attempt at being supportive. She opened her bottle and took a large swig when a high-pitched ringing on other end of the room demanded her attention.

"Huh?" Rogue muttered surprised as she stood up and walked over to her bag, and pulled out her phone. It was Quicksilver. "Hey, what's up?" she asked.

"We have a problem," Pietro answered. "I tried calling Dad-" he started to say.

"He's in back-to-back business meeting all afternoon. You ain't gonna be able to get in touch with him. What's going on?" she asked.

"Mystique escaped," he told her.

"What?" she asked softly. She didn't whether to be relieved that her mother was no longer Magneto's prisoner, or very very worried about the woman might try to do with her new found freedom. She took a deep breath. Someone had to have helped Raven escape. She was a sneaky woman, but not even Mystique was capable of escaping while incapacitated.

'Mr. McCoy,' she called out to the fragment.

'Yes?' he asked.

'How long does it take someone to wake up from a medically induced coma?' she asked.

'Usually within six hours of the medication being stopped,' he answered.

"Pietro, when did this happen?" she asked.

"Sometime this morning, we're not sure exactly when. Everyone's still waking up. Gambit called me when he couldn't reach my father," he said.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, no one's hurt," he said.

"Okay," she muttered. She had a lot more questions, but Ororo was standing right behind her. "Alright, meet me by the elevator of the institute as fast as ya can. We'll handle this together," she said. She took another deep breath as she hung up the phone. "I gotta go," she said as she made eye contact with Ororo.

"Is everything alright?" she inquired.

"Is it ever?" she asked annoyed as she grabbed her bag. "I gotta go handle something," she said as she headed towards the door, Ororo close behind.

"As Magneto's second in command?" It sounded like more of an accusation than a question.

"Yeah," she sighed.

"I thought you weren't planning to use the power he gave you," Ororo remarked as they walked down the hall.

"Honestly, I wasn't. But this is an emergency and Magneto's unreachable. Someone's gotta take control over the situation," she said shrugged as they walked up to the elevator. She pressed the button calling for the lift. "I might not be home for dinner. I'll call when I know for sure," she said as the elevator doors opened.

"And, let me guess, you cannot tell us where you are going or what you're doing," Ororo's voice held a hint of frustration.

"Not really, no," she said shrugged as she pressed the button for the ground floor.

"And you aren't going to tell Professor Xavier either, are you?" Ororo said.

Rogue sighed. "He's just gonna go off on how it's a bad idea and how Magneto shouldn't have even asked me to take the position, never mind taking charge of situation that involves ordering Magneto's people around. And I just don't wanna hear it," she exclaimed. The look of concern and disapproval had not left Ororo's face. "It's an emergency about my mother, okay?" she admitted reluctantly.

"…Which one?" Ororo asked carefully.

"… Raven," Rogue answered.

"Is Mystique alright?" she asked.

"I don't know. She's gone missing," Rogue said. "But I'm gonna be with my dad while we look for her. He ain't gonna let anything happen ta me. I'll be safe," she added. She wished she had started with that. The elevator door opened. Pietro was standing right outside of it. "Thanks for the session, Ororo. I'll see ya later tonight," she said before she turned to Quicksilver. She put her fingertips to his face: taking seven minutes worth of energy from him. "Follow me," she ordered. Quicksilver promptly nodded before they took off towards Magneto's base.

Ororo watched them race off, partly angered by Rogue's casual dismissal but mostly worried about what the young girl was getting herself into. Most of all though, she felt completely powerless to do anything about the situation.

Rogue and Pietro ran into the large warehouse that served as one of Magneto's bases. Victor was standing in front of a large metal dome, housed within the warehouse.

"Hey," Rogue said as they came to a stop. "You alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Sleep through the whole fucking thing," Victor said annoyed.

"We all did," Gambit said as he came out of the metal dome's entrance. "Whoever did this knocked us all out," he added.

"Did you get a look at the person?" Rogue asked.

"No," Gambit said.

"Were the security cameras running today?" Rogue asked.

"We haven't checked yet," Victor said.

"Alright, I'll take care of that," she said as she started to walk towards the dome's entrance. Pietro and Victor were right behind her. "Pietro, call Magneto. Leave a voicemail report about what's going on if he doesn't pick up," she ordered.

"On it," Pietro said before he ran across the room.

"Gambit, Victor go take a look around the base. I wanan know if there's anything missing besides Mystique," she said.

"I take orders from Magneto, Cherie" Gambit said.

"You take orders from anyone who outranks you," Victor said. "That includes me and Magneto's second in command," he said as he pointed to Rogue.

"Wait, you're the commodore?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I'm Anna Marie Creed," Rogue said slightly annoyed. Gambit just stared at her for a moment.

"Now move your ass and help me look," Victor ordered before he started to walk away. Gambit stared at her for moment before he followed Victor. Rogue let out a sigh as she headed into the base and walked up to the video security system, on the far right wall.

The system included two large television screens that could be switched between the eight cameras within the base with a press of the button. The tapes were recorded on video tapes that needed to be switched out every eight hours. If they were on schedule the last switch should have happened at 8:00am this morning before shifts were changed: the duty of switching the tapes falling to the individual who's shift was ending. Those tapes were stored in the large cabinet to the left of the televisions.

She examined the VCR's: checking to make sure they all still had tapes in them. She stopped at the third VCR as she felt her heart skip a beat. On the tape it was clearly written across the edge of it: "For the commodore's eyes only," in Irene's handwriting.

"What the fuck?" Rogue muttered to herself as she recoiled several feet. "She was here," she whispered as she fell back into a computer chair: the chair rolled back a few feet. "She was actually in Bayville," she said as her breath quickened. Her hands gripped the arms of the chair, as she firmly placed her feet on the floor. She needed something to hold onto: something to keep herself steady. She took deep breaths attempting to shake off the feeling of fear that threatened to consume her.

'Or she had Agatha bring the tape here for her?' she asked herself. She had to watch that tape. She just had to will herself to stand again. 'It's just a tape,' she told herself as she breathed. 'You haven't even watched it yet. You can freak out later, not here, not now. You're supposed to be in charge,' she thought strongly.

She let out a breath as she opened her eyes. She stood up and walked over to the televisions. Before she could talk herself out of it, Rogue turned on the screen and pressed play on the tape.

It was a video of Mystique's cell. Mystique was laying on a bed, strapped down, with an IV in her arm. Rogue knew the IV was injecting her with a very powerful sedative, which had been keeping Raven unconscious since she had supposedly been abandoned at Area 51.

Rogue saw the door to Raven's cell open seemingly by itself. She took a deep breath as she watched Irene walk into the room. Irene turned her face towards the camera as she took a seat in the chair next to Raven's bed. This was the first time she was seeing her foster mother since she had left her house in Mississippi. The first time since she had learned what price her birth mother had paid so Irene could raise her.

Rogue took a deep breath as she claimed herself. Closing her eyes she took deep breaths, the way Ororo had taught her.

After a minute or so had passed, Rogue opened her eyes, feeling as claim as she could given the situation. She stared at the screen in disbelief. Irene was still just sitting there, facing the camera, not doing or saying anything.

"Screw this," Rogue muttered before she moved her hand to fast-forward the tape. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw Irene's head turn towards her hand. Rogue froze. 'What?' she asked herself in disbelief.

Slowly she started to move her hand up and down; sure enough Irene's face followed her movements.

Rogue took another deep breath as she let her hand fall to her side.

"I get it," she said: a hint of defeat in her voice. "I suspected as much. Living with you all those years, the way you always just knew. The way you've been playing with me, my whole life. I get it," she said bitterly. "You're watching me and there ain't a damn thing I can do about it. So move the fuck on to your next point. Before I get inpatient and press stop, like we both know I can," she said.

"Magneto love's his surveillance equipment, doesn't he?" Irene asked softly with a laugh. "He likes to feel as though he's omnipresent," she laughed as she shook her head with a smile. Rogue's hands balled at her sides. "He couldn't even begin to understand the concept," she said.

"Not like you do," Rogue said bitterly.

"Yes, Rogue. Not like I do," Irene agreed as she turned her head back to facing Raven. "I know there are things you would like to ask me, Rogue. So, go ahead. Ask," Irene said.

'She wants me to ask questions. Fine,' she thought bitterly. 'I'll ask her some fucking questions,' she thought. "Why are you doing this to me, Irene? What the fuck did I ever do t-" she started to ask annoyed as a smile graced Irene's face.

"Nothing, honey," Irene said. Rogue's eyes narrowed at the answer and the endearment. "You've done nothing to me. It's remarkable really. Though out all the timelines I've explored, even in the ones where Raven and I didn't adopt you, you have never done me harm," Irene said.

"Then why?" she demanded to know.

"For that very reason. You know now that I have spent years mapping out our future. I've had to plan so thoroughly to ensure that everything unfolds exactly the way it has. Even the smallest choice can change the lives of millions," Irene said.

"I'm sure having Agatha has helped you with that," Rogue said bitterly.

"That's still Miss, Harkness to you, child," Agatha Harkness said as she walked into the view of the camera. Agatha stared at Rogue a moment before turning to Irene. "Irene, have you finished?" she asked dryly.

"I'll just be another minute. Would you please take Raven to the car while we talk?" she asked.

"Very well," Agatha said the straps holding down Raven's body were removed, seemingly by themselves. Rogue could hear Agatha muttering under her breath as she watched Raven's body lift into the air.

"Thank you," Irene said as Agatha and Mystique headed towards the door. Rogue noticed that Agatha had kept the IV inserted into Raven's arm. The bag and the pole the sedative was coming out of, rolling with Raven and Agatha, exiting the room.

"You're keeping her in the coma?" Rogue asked.

"For now," Irene said.

"Why?" she asked.

"The same reason you and Magneto did," Irene said.

'Cause she's easier to control that way,' Rogue to herself sadly. Her eyes narrowed as she replayed Irene's last statement in her mind. "I didn't keep Raven in anything," she said offended. "That was Magne-," she said.

"You allowed it," Irene said..

"I didn't allow anything. I was being blackmailed by-" she started to say as it hit her. "I'm arguing with a tape. I am standing here arguing with a fucking tape," she thought annoyed. "Scre-," Rogue exclaimed as she reached forward to stop on the VCR.

"Do not turn off the tape, or else," Irene commanded in the stein voice she had endured as a child.

"Or else, what? You gonna send Juggernaut to the institute again? It didn't kill me th-"

"My dear child, it wasn't meant to," Irene interrupted. "You saw that when you looked through his memories. I'm preparing you," she said.

"For what?" she exclaimed.

"Your future," Irene answered.

"No shit, Irene. What do you wanna happen in this future? What is so bad that you have to torture me in fucking preparation?" she asked.

"I haven't tortured you-," Irene said.

"You se-" Rogue started to argue.

"Not yet," Irene added. Rogue felt her heart skip a beat at Irene's last statement. Rogue took a deep breath as she pushed back her fear.

'She's just trying to frighten you, my girl,' the fragment of Magneto said.

'It's working,' Rogue thought bitterly as she took a deep breath.

'She doesn't need to know that. She doesn't need to see how much she affects you,' he told her.

'It's a little late for that, Max,' Rogue said.

'That's assuming she's been watching you every moment. Surely, she must have memorized this conversation. All the pauses. The way she stated every word in order to educe a carefully planned emotion out of you. It must have taken her hours, days maybe. All of our powers have limitations, Anna. All of us," he stressed. "Hers can't be any different. Somewhere in her taunts is a bluff, I know it. We just have to find and exploit it,' he said. Rogue took another deep breath.

"You sent Juggernaut," Rogue muttered said: deciding to continue what she was going to say before. "You knew what would happen," Rogue said.

"...Yes, I did. I knew that seeing you, as wounded as you were, would change him. It made him see the price of keeping you in bondage, my child. And it convinced him to release you," Irene stressed. "Do you want to know where you would be now if I hadn't sent Juggernaut?"

"I would've talked him into letting me go home," Rogue said.

"Eventually, yes you would have. But nothing else would have changed. Still you would be his captive. Still you would be a victim of his blackmail," she said. "This time, Rogue, I did you a favor," Irene said.

"Fuck your favors. I just want you to leave me alone," Rogue said.

"I can't do that, honey," Irene said. "There's too much at stake," she said.

"What's at stake? What do you want fro-?" she asked as she Irene stood up.

"You'll see," she said pleasantly as she walked towards the exit. "You're a smart girl, Rogue, You always have been. It's one of the reasons I choose you. I won't need to tell you. One day you'll just know," she said as she walked up to the exit. She stopped at the cell door. "You've found it in your heart to forgive him, despite all he's done. Maybe one day you will be able to forgive me," Irene said. Rogue stared at the screen in disbelief.

"Not fucking likely," Rogue said.

"We'll see," Irene said before she exited the cell: walking out of the camera line of sight.

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!