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Taunting Repartee
Chapter Sixty-Eight:
Rogue yet out a yawn on, Wednesday night, as she sat up on her bead. It was a little past nine p.m as she stared at the laptop in her lap: she just wanted to finish one more lesson in Mandarin before she attempted to fall asleep. Kitty was sitting on the bed next to hers, her roommate was finishing up their math home work that was due tomorrow.
"Hey, Rogue?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah?" Rogue asked as she took one of the ear phones out of her ear.
"Do you want to copy this tonight or tomorrow?" Kitty asked.
"I'll copy it before I go to sleep tonight. Just leave it out for me?" she asked.
"Sure," Kitty smiled. "I have your global homework from Jubilee too. She gave it to me after dinner," Kitty again.
"Okay, I'll get it back to her tomorrow," Rogue said. "Thanks again for letting me copy off you," added said.
"Hey, we both know you totally know this stuff, you like just have to focus on other things right now," Kitty said.
"Yeah," Rogue sighed as she turned back to the lesson on her computer. Rogue looked up again when she heard a knock on the door.
"Who's there?" Kitty asked.
Charles sat outside Rogue's and Kitty's room.
"It's me," Charles said answering Kitty. "May I come in?" he asked.
"Sure," he heard Rogue answer before he opened the door.
"Hello, girls," Charles said as he entered the room.
"Hey," Kitty smiled. He returned Kitty's smile about he turned to look at Rogue. There were dark circles under her eyes. Why hadn't he noticed those earlier?
"You and Logan talked, right?" Rogue asked.
"Yes," he answered as he moved up to her bed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle of pills.
"Sleeping pills?" Rogue guessed.
"Yes," Charles answered as he opened the bottle and took one out. "Just for tonight," he said as he handed one pill to her. "Tomorrow after school, and I want you in the infirmary. We're going to run some tests," he told her.
"Okay," Rogue said as she gestured to Kitty: who handed her a water bottle. "Thanks," she said.
"Have you been having nightmares again?" he asked as she uncapped the water bottle.
"No, I haven't been dreaming," Rogue told him before she put the pill in her mouth and took a drink of water. Charles raised an eyebrow at that.
"You haven't been remembering your-" he started to ask before cutting himself off. "No, you remember everything so... You haven't been having any dream good or other wise?" he asked in disbelief.
"No, I haven't," Rogue said.
"For how long?" he asked concerned.
"Mid February, since Max got involved. Charles felt his heart skip a beat. "Prof?" she asked.
"Did Magneto had something done to your mind?" he asked. "No- you don't have to answer that. I can guess. Would it be alright if I took a look?" he asked.
"Do you have any idea what you would be looking for?" she asked.
"I would know it when I saw it," he said. She glanced away from him for a moment.
"Prof, I'm really sorry, but I can't give you free reign to roam around my mind- just looking for something. I mean- why does that matter? What's the problem?" she asked. He took a moment to choose his words with care: he didn't want her to panic.
"REM sleep has been found to be essential for emotional health and the formation of long term memories," he answered. "Dreams are how the mind organizes everything we have experienced throughout the day. It's how we form long term memories," he said. " But every memory in your mind is automatically formed into a long term memory," he said mostly to himself.
"Yeah," Rogue said: he glanced back up at her: her eyes were widened with shock. "Prof? If it weren't for my powers-" she started to say.
"But you do have your powers. You are who you are. So, you have been able to function under this conditions. The negative effects of a lack of REM sleep have thankfully been slowed. Have you noticed any change in your mental functions?" he asked.
"Since Sunday, yeah a little. I'm always tired. It's kinda getting harder for me to concentrate. I can still do it, but it's been taking more effort than it use to," she said.
"From a scale of one to ten where you rate your ability to concentrate and to form thought?" he asked.
"Like an seven," Rogue said.
"So, you're only slightly less of a genius than your usual self?" he asked with a smile. Rogue smiled at that as she let out a soft laugh. "This is going to be alright. I'm glad I'm aware it now, so we can take care of this, and get you back to ten," he said with a smile. Rogue let out a sigh.
"I thought it was just stress from everything," she said.
"That is, of course, contributing to the issue, but this needs to be addressed as well," he said.
"Okay," Rogue said. "Emma gonna be here on Friday," Rogue said.
"She's the telepath responsible for this?" Charles asked.
"Yeah," Rogue said.
"Alright, you lasted nearly two months in this state, although we're going to be monitoring your health very closely, I do believe you should be fine for the next two days," Charles said as calmly as he could.
"Okay," Rogue said. "I'll ask Emma to come back to the institute after we play pool," Rogue said.
"They're coming in on Friday?" Charles asked.
"Yeah," Rogue answered.
"Considering, it's going to be so late, please let your brother and Miss Frost know they are welcome to stay to night," Charles said. She looked pleasantly surprised by his statement. He had already allowed Magneto to spend the night in the same room as Rogue. Why not her brother and his partner?
"Thanks," Rogue said with a smile.
"Ororo and I talked about your feelings regarding all the meetings we've held to talk about your other family. And you're right, of course, it hasn't been fair to you," Charles said.
"I'm the one who isolated myself from all of them. I'm the one who choose to live with their enemies," Rogue said.
"Mystique left you no choice. Not after what she attempted. You needed to protect yourself for her," Charles said.
"I could've asked you to take me to my brother. You would have," she said as her eyes grew distance. "Emma's not as respectful about the whole privacy thing as you are. She would have found out about the nightmares within days. I would ended up in Emma's division of Max's origination. Just another foot solider; not second in command. No where near being on Max's radar," she said. "And Emma wouldn't have let Raven anywhere near me," Rogue said. "Not that that would have stopped my mother," Rogue said bitterly.
"Rogue?" Charles asked curiously.
"I didn't tell you that yet, did I?" Rogue asked herself. "Do you remember Risty Wilde?" she asked.
"Your friend? The one you brought over to the institute without proper planning?" Charles asked.
"Yeah, that's her. That's my mother," Rogue said bitterly as Charles' eye widened.
"Oh my god," Kitty exclaimed.
"Yeah, I've also been dealing with that since last Tuesday. I think it might have been different if she had chosen someone else from the house to befriend, but she choose me. She made it as personal as it get again. Another attack, another betrayal," she said bitterly. "But still," she laughed, "feels like a spinster compared to Irene," she said. "I don't know- I just- My mind- I just-"
"Yes?" Charles asked.
"I keep thinking about all of the lives Irene stole from me. So many little decisions, and each of them put me exactly where Irene wanted me: here, an x-man," she said.
"Yes, there is that," Charles said.
"Do you think it's possible that she had Agatha make sure I choose the x-men?" Rogue asked.
"I believe it's more than possible," Charles said darkly.
"Yeah, me too," she said sadly. "... Am I a hypocrite for letting this all bother me so much?" Rogue asked. The question took him by surprise.
"Hypocrite?" Charles asked.
"After everything I've done with Magneto while acting as his second in command," Rogue explained. "Do I have the right, really? To be angry about all of it, when I've used some of the same tactics?" she asked.
"What tactics? You've never killed anyone to reach your goals," Charles said exclaimed. "You've never put someone else's life on the line. You personally have never blackmailed anyone into submission. You have never altered your appearance to fool and solicit information. Of course you have the right to be hurt by what has been done to you," Charles said. "Besides that, you didn't have an active role. You were asleep the entire time. You said so yourself," he said. Charles watched her pause: as she glanced away from him.
"Do you remember what I said to you about my negotiations with Max, when we were starting to talk about it that first time with Scott and Jean in the kitchen?" she asked as she remade eye contact.
"... There's a thin line between blackmail and betrayal. You said you were not certain if you had crossed that line," Charles recalled. "You've also said you knew more than Miss Frost and your brother put together," Charles said. "Miss Frost seemed skeptical," he added.
"She didn't believe it when Max said it to her face either. Doesn't mean it ain't true," she added. "I had a very active role in strategic planning," Rogue said.
"Three days before the operation?" Charles asked in disbelief. "Magneto told me about the support he has shown the institute since it opened. I don't know if I would have been able to open the school at all without his funding. Clearly he had been planning this since- for years," Charles said in disbelief. "How active of a role could you have had in that?" he asked in disbelief.
"I-" she started to say before she stopped herself. " I wish I could say more, but I really can't," she said. "The truce," she reminded him.
"I understand," Charles said.
"I don't know how much more I try to make you understand without actually being able to talk about it," Rogue said.
"I'll let you get some sleep then," he said.
"Thanks," Rogue said.
"See you both tomorrow," Charles said as he headed towards the door. "Good night," Charles said.
"Good night," he heard Rogue and Kitty said within moments of each other as he exited the room.
The next afternoon Rogue sat on one of the beds in the infirmary. Mr. McCoy sat across from her, a clipboard in his hand: asking her a series of uncomfortable questions, which she was doing her best to answer honestly.
"Now," he started to say before letting out a sigh. Mr. McCoy was clearly a little uncomfortable with the line of questioning as well. Both of them were trying to make the process go as quickly as painlessly as possible. "When was your last period?" Mr. McCoy asked.
"Hmm, I haven't gotten it this month yet, " she mumbled to herself. "Let me think," she said as she went over it in her mind. As it occurred to her, she felt her heart skip a beat.
"Rogue?" Mr. McCoy asked concerned.
"First week of February," Rogue said out loud: she could feel herself start to panic.
"Rogue, I see where your mind's headed, but I want you to stop thinking and take a deep breath. Could you do that?" Mr. McCoy asked. Rogue nodded as she closed her eyes. "Okay," he said she did what he instructed. She opened her eyes a few moments later to see Mr. McCoy holding a bottle of water in his hand. "Now, there are a number of reasons why your period could be irregular," he said he uncapped the water bottle before he handed it to her.
"Emotional stress, increased exercise, travel, change in hormone levels in the body, to name a few," he said as she took a large sip of water. "We both know you have had an excessive amount of emotional stress these past few months. That alone could be the reason. I'm going to test your blood and urine regardless, both of which will tell us whether or not you're pregnant," Mr. McCoy said.
"How long till we'll know?" Rogue asked.
"A couple of days," Mr. McCoy said. "Have you ever experienced skipped periods in the past?" Mr. McCoy asked.
"I've missed it a couple since I started getting it. But not two in row," she said worried. Mr McCoy nodded as he took a note on the clip board.
"What time of the month do you usually get it?" he asked.
"It varies," Rogue said. "I've never been regular," she said as he took another note.
"You have only missed March's so far. And from you what you've just told me I don't believe you have much reason to worry. It's only April tenth. This could mean anything," he said as she let out a sigh. "Rogue, we'll have that conversation if we need to have it," he said gently.
"Are you gonna tell, Prof?" she asked.
"That's up to you," Mr. McCoy said.
"I don't want to say anything unless there's something to actually say," Rogue said.
"Okay then. This stays between us for now, and whoever else you choose to talk to about it," he said.
"Thanks," Rogue said with a small smile. Mr. McCoy returned it briefly before before looking back down at his clip board.
"Alright, lets move on, shall we..." he started to say.
Charles sat with Hank in the infirmary as he watched Rogue come out of the bathroom.
"Hey, where do you want this?" Rogue asked: gesturing to the urine sample in a little containing in her hand.
"Right on the counter is fine," Hank said.
"Oh, Prof," she started to say as she placed the container where Hank had pointed. "Max is actually gonna be in Bayville today, so we're gonna go grab some dinner together. I'll be home by nine," Rogue said.
"Very well," Charles said.
"Thanks again, Mr. McCoy," Rogue said.
"You're very welcome," he said.
"Have a nice night, you two," Rogue said pleasantly enough as she headed towards the door.
"You as well," Charles said as she left the room. Charles turned to look at Hank: who was looking over a clip board as he sat in a chair by one of the beds. "How is she?" Charles asked concerned.
"I'll know more after the blood work is done, but so far every test says she's perfectly healthy. Does she need to get more sleep? Yes. But, everyone suffers from insomnia to some degree at some point in their lives. Whatever is causing it, it's in her mind. She needs a psychiatrist, Charles, not a physician," Hank concluded.
"I thought as much. I just wanted to be certain," Charles said.
"She also needs is to relax more," Hank said. "We've all seen her this week. She barely stops studying to eat anymore. She needs to take breaks. Which is why I advised her to call that boyfriend of hers and ask him out to dinner," Hank said.
"So, that's why," Charles sighed.
"If she ate dinner here, she would have just continued working as she has been. With him, she might just give herself a few hours to breath," Hank said.
"She needs to be able to relax here as well," Charles interjected.
"Charles, how can she?" Hank asked. "For the last few months she has taken it upon herself to be our protector, against Magneto and now Irene. That woman could have chosen to threaten any one of us and Rogue would work just as diligently to appease her demands. She's not going to be able to relax here, most certainly not in any of the sub-levels. The association of stress and instability within these walls is too strong. Maybe when we move back into the mansion, but only time will tell," Hank said.
"Thank you, Hank," Charles said. "Please let me know if there is anything abnormal in her blood work," Charles said.
"Of course," Hank replied.
Magneto stood just outside the institute's grounds: since neither he nor Anna felt like consulting Charles. He saw his girl come out of the elevator: she glanced about until her eyes met his. A smile came to her face. He waved to her with a smile as she walked over to him.
"Hey," she said with a smile as she walked up to him. He took her into his arms as they kissed.
"How are you?" he asked. He watched her smile fade as she let out a sigh. She turned her glace away from his for a moment.
"... I don't know if I'm gonna wanna answer that question tonight," Rogue said. He raised an eyebrow at that. "I might, I might not. I don't know right now," Rogue said. Max stared down at her for a moment. It was pointless, as it usually was, to ask if she was alright. There honestly was only one question he could think to ask at that moment.
"Is there anything I can do to help with whatever it is you don't wish to speak about?" he asked. She smiled at him as tears came to her eyes.
"You really are so good to me," Rogue said happily.
"Because you deserve to be treated well, my love," he said as he cupped her cheek. "Don't ever let anyone tell you differently," he said before she pulled herself closer to him: hugging him tightly. He held her against him knowing how much comfort she took in his arms. This alone was most likely helping her state of mind. And he, of course, would never tire of holding her, of being near his love. He heard her mumble something against his chest.
"My apologizes, Anna, but what did you say?" he asked. She glanced up at him, that same look in her eyes he was coming to adore.
"I love you," she said simply. He leaned down and kissed her: as his hand cupped her cheek again.
"What was that?" he asked playfully: wanting to hear her say it again.
"You heard me," she said with a slight smirk tugging at her lips: even as a couple of tears ran down her face. She was trying to ignore the tears, he could tell. So, so would he.
"Did I?" he asked.
"Yup," she smiled. "You don't need me to repeat it," she teased.
"I'm afraid my girl, that at my age somet-" he started to say playfully.
"Hell, no," Rogue exclaimed as she cut him off. "You do not get to play the fucking age card to get me to repeat myself, when we're supposed to disregard that your in your seventies when it comes to everything fucking else. You do not," she said with a laugh, "get to pull that card out your ass whenever it fucking suits you," Rogue said as she smiled.
"Oh? Then what do I get to do?" he asked.
"Me," she smirked. He chuckled at that before he crashed his lips onto hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck as they deepened the kiss. "You hungry?" she asked breathlessly a few moments later.
"Not for food," he answered huskily.
"Me either," Rogue said. "Cafe? In case we change our minds?" she asked.
"It is the closest," he smirked before he kissed her again as he lifted them into the air.
"Race ya," Rogue said as backed out of his arms. "Last one there owes the other a massage," she called out as she flew up into the clouds, towards the cafe. He chuckled loudly as he flew up after her. He caught up to her much faster than he thought he was going to: he moved beneath her about a foot, turning his body to face her.
"What kind of massage does the winner get?" he asked playfully as he moved his hands to rest on her waist.
"Use your imagination," she said as she pressed her body down against his. He let out a groin as his mind filled with a series of flashes of all the things he wanted her to do to him. His eyes closed as she kissed him again: her fingers weaving into his hair. "From that tent I can feel ya pitching, I'm guessing you got few ideas," she said as she moved her hands to his shoulders.
"I most certainly do," he uttered.
"Good. Now, all ya gotta do is win," she whispered into his ear before she pushed herself off of him, breaking away from him, taking the lead. He quickly opened his eyes and rushed after her. Ahead of him he could hear her laughing.
'If that's how you want to play it,' he thought to himself as he rushed to catch up with her. It took him a moment but once again he was right behind her. This time he did not stop to flirt with his girl, he flew a few feet ahead of her. "You're not winning this one, Anna Marie," Magneto said.
"We'll see about that," Rogue smirked as she pulled ahead of him again. It was neck and neck as they neared their destination.
A few moment later they neared the alley way, both of them touched down to the ground within seconds of each other.
"I won," Max grinned as he walked up to her.
"That was way too close to call," Rogue said as he took hold of her waist and pulled her up against him. Her hands went to his shoulders.
"Don't be a sore loser, Anna Marie," he said as he used his powers to open the door behind him. "Besides, you're going to get a massage of some sort today, my girl," he said as he ran his hands down her sides: she let out a soft moan at the touch, "but this little victory ensures me the privilege of going first," he said.
"So, what do you have in mind?" she asked.
"Actually, I think I would like a back massage," he said.
"Really?" she laughed.
"Well, I'm always giving them to you. I'd like to be on the receiving end for once," he said.
"Okay," Rogue said with a smile. He smirked as she felt her use his powers to turn on the mutant inhibitor field. She smiled as she started to turn towards the entrance. He took hold of her arm.
"Anna," he said as he took hold of her arm.
"Yeah?" she asked as she turned back to face him. There was something he had been meaning to say to her, but it never seemed like the right time. A thought he aware she must be thinking about to some degree, a notion he wanted to set right before it became an issue.
"For the record, my love, you are good to me too," Max said. She smiled at that. "It is very comforting to be known, to be loved," he said earnestly as he cupped her cheek again, "I've missed having someone to share my life with. You know me so well, and you don't fault me for my past, you don't judge me for me," he said.
"It's not my past to judge. Even if it was... I'm not Magda," Rogue said: he voice slightly hesitate. They had never discussed his late wife. Rogue knew it was taboo subject for him. "You killing a few dozen sum-of-the-earth Nazi's, who fucking deserved death after what they did willingly, isn't gonna cause me to run away from you. I've said it before, and even if you don't believe me, I'll say it again, you are not a monster," Rogue said strongly.
"People like us who have been put in impossible situations, with limited resources, and only a handful of options, we understand that the world ain't black and white. That morals are a luxury and it's fantastic when we have those luxuries. But being without them for so long, it makes us more willing to do what others might consider distasteful. And we don't have to lie to ourselves when it comes to what means we're willing to use to get to what we want, what we need. And even though some people will never understand it, their opinion of who you are does not stand up against someone's who actually does know you. Against someone who loves you," Rogue said strongly. He smiled down at her. "Yeah, I- yeah, I love you," Rogue said: this time to herself mostly. She looked away from him for a moment as she took a deep breath. She turned her glace back up at him.
"There's like a really really small chance that I might be pregnant, Irene knows that you getting me a bodyguard, and I love you," Rogue said quickly.
"Could you repeat that, please?" he asked.
"There's a-" she started to say.
"No, not that part. I heard that, but I highly doubt you are. I've never been more careful with a partner in my life," he said. "Of course, if I'm wrong, then we'll have that conversation. Please know, that I will fully support whatever course of action you chose to take," he said.
"Irene-" she started to repeat.
"No, not that either. I attempted to hide it from her, but I knew she would be aware of it soon enough. I still have every intention of seeing my plans through. As I've said before I will not leave you unprotected," he said.
"So, you just want wanna hear me say it again?" she asked with a smile.
"Say it? I want to hear you scream it from the rooftops," he said playfully. She laughed at that.
"Turn off the inhibitor field," she said. He chuckled at that before he leaned in and kissed her again. "I love you, Max," she said again.
"I love you, too, Anna Marie," he said before they kissed.
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