PLEASE READ!
Hey, I was thinking about how I wanted to write this chapter. I went back and forth on a few ideas and I've decided to trust the fact that everyone reading this has seen the episode "Blind Alley", (season 3, episode 5; still on Marvel's youtube channel for FREE for anyone who wants to refresh their memories) As always, everything that happened in the episode, also took place in my fic.
I really don't feel like rewriting the events that take place take during the episode itself. So, this chapter is going to pick up after the Professor, Jean, Wolverine, and Storm rescue Scott from Mystique in Mexico City.
Am I being a little lazy? Yes, yes I am. But this is also the 5th chapter I'm posting in less than a week, so I think I get a little wiggle room on this one ^.^
With that said: please enjoy,
Taunting Repartee
Chapter Seventy- Three:
It was late Sunday night as Rogue sat on her bed in her new bedroom within the newly completed mansion. She had to admit it was nice having her own space again. A part of her was going to miss rooming with Kitty, but another part of her was overjoyed to learn she had own bathroom again. Rogue couldn't help but smirk every time she glanced at the door leading to her private bathroom. She doubted many of the others were given one as she had been. And she decided that in order to avoid some questioning looks during meals she was just going to keep that little detail to herself. She had no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth.
Rogue turned back to the Mandarin lesson playing out on the laptop in front of her. Three more and she was going to call it a night and try to get some sleep. It was then Rogue heard a knock on her door.
Rogue glanced up at the door, surprised someone wanted to talk this late at night.
"Yeah?" Rogue asked.
"May I come in?" she heard the Professor ask.
"Yeah," she answered. A moment later the door opened and the Professor let himself into the room. He looked tired, annoyed, and angry. "Is everything, okay?" Rogue asked worried.
"No," he answered dryly. "Were you aware that it was Scott who abandoned Mystique in Area fifty-one?" he asked.
"Yes, course I'm a- …," Rogue started to say as her mind processed the question he had just asked her. Rogue's eyes widened. "Is Scott okay?" Rogue asked alarmed. "Did Mystique or Irene hurt him?" Rogue asked panicked. "Do we know where he is?" Rogue asked.
"He's alright," the Professor answered quickly. "He's alright," he repeated. "Mystique ruffed him up a little. But aside from some scratches he's going to be fine," he answered. Rogue felt herself let out a sigh in relief.
"Thank god," Rogue said. "Is Scott home now?" she asked.
"Yes, we just got back from Mexico City," he answered.
"That's good," Rogue said. "... Did-" she started to ask, but faltered. She wasn't sure he was going to get anger at her asking.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Did you, by any chance, capture Mystique?" Rogue asked hopefully. She really needed to full her mother in what Irene had and was continuing to do to her. She wasn't sure if her mother would side with her or Irene, but it was a conversations she wanted to have. The Professor met her gaze.
"No, I'm afraid not," he asked shaking his head.
"Did she give any clue where she might be headed next?" Rogue asked.
"I did not speak with her," he told her. "She was gone by the time I caught up with Scott and Jean," he said.
"Okay," Rogue said. "I'll ask Scott and Jean tomorrow. Un- unless you want to," Rogue added.
"No, it's alright. You should ask them," he said.
"Okay," Rogue said as the Professor turned his back on her: moving up to the window. Rogue sat on her bed uneasy as the Professor stared out her window. Something else was wrong.
"Rogue, given the little bit of information I've just given you, what do you believe happened?" he asked. Rogue raised an eyebrow at the question.
"Prof, are you okay?" Rogue asked.
"Rogue, please just answer the question," he said: he sounded tired.
"Hmm... Knowing my mother? My best guess is she called Scott from Mexico and told him she couldn't contact her foster parents, didn't have any money or passport. She probably asked Scott to come and meet her in Mexico. Scott went and that's when Mystique kidnapped him and... abandoned him in the middle of no where... alone, without his visor," she added. "She wanted revenge for what he did to her," she sighed with a sigh as she shook her head. Leaving Mystique behind hadn't even been Scott's idea. It was Magneto's, a means to make her disappearance believable. Scott had just been caught in the middle and paid the price of establishing the facade.
'And Irene's reinforcing it,' she realized.
"Rogue?" the Professor asked. She would have to come back to that thought
"You or Jean must have called Alex's house to see if he was back yet and that's when you found out Scott never actually talked to him. You used Cerebro to locate him, flew there and rescued him from Mystique," Rogue finished.
"Yes, precisely," he said. "And it was Jean who called," he added.
"Okay. Prof?" she started to ask "Were you aware that Scott's the one who left her behind in area fifty-one?" Rogue asked.
"No, I was not," he answered bitterly.
"I didn't know, you didn't know that," Rogue said.
"Clearly," he said under his breath. Rogue let out a sigh at that.
"Damn it," she exclaimed. "I asked Kitty earlier today where Scott was. She said he needed to go see his brother in Mexico. I thought he was going to watch him in the surfing competition or something. If I had been paying more attention, asked a couple of more questions- I might have been able to piece two and two together a little sooner," she said: a little angry at herself. "I'm sorry," Rogue said as the Professor turned to meet her gaze. She watched him let out a sigh as couple of tears ran down his face.
"You have nothing to apologize for," he said earnestly. "You made me aware that Mystique was active within a half hour of finding out. It is not your job, to be aware of what I am aware of," he yelled. Rogue held his gaze for a long moment.
"Maybe it should be," Rogue said carefully.
"You have enough to deal with as it is," he said turning back to the window.
"Then why are you in my room right now?" she asked. He didn't answer her. "You came to talk to me and I'm not complaining. Prof, I've actually got a good handle on the amount of stuff I need to do right now. Friday night, Irene told me I was actually doing a good job. That I could afford to slow down, if I wanted to," Rogue told him with a slight laugh. "I ran through it in my head a few times and I figured out if I complete at least four lessons in total a day, and read the dictionaries she gave me on the way back and forth from school everyday, and if starting in June every conversation I have with Max or Jubilee is in one of the languages: I should finish a week ahead of the deadline she gave me."
"I've been up here since after dinner, for six hours now. Right now, I'm three days ahead of schedule," Rogue said with a smile. "So, if something crazy happens tomorrow, I got a little time to work with. I won't fall behind," Rogue said. "I'm doing okay, right now," she told him. "I know you really wanted me to talk and get you filled on everything that happened, a few weeks ago. And I shot you down a bunch of times, cause I just- I couldn't handle it then. I'm sorry, I did that, but I needed time to get my head together and get a game plan. Which now I have one," Rogue said.
"So, maybe, now we need to work together more. So, we can both make better decisions to keep the people in this house safer. I have access to more or less everything Magneto and his people are doing. I won't always be able to go into detail, but maybe with my input I might be able to warn you and keep something like this from happening again," Rogue said. "I'd like to do that, if you'd let me. I'd like to be that person," Rogue said.
"How could your knowledge of Magneto's people possibly have helped in this situation?" Charles asked at a loss.
"I don't know," Rogue lied. "But I'd rather spend my time being aware of what's going on, then one of our own getting kidnapped," Rogue said. "What could it hurt?" Rogue asked. She listened to the Professor let out a long sigh as she leaned against the pillow on her headboard. 'He's not okay right now,' she thought to herself as she decided to give him a few minutes to breath. The Professor kept his back to her: staring out of the window.
'I need to find my mother,' she thought to herself as she glanced at the Professor. 'I need to talk to her,' she sighed. 'I wonder if Prof was able to find Mystique with Cerbero. I gotta remember to ask Jean tomorrow,' she thought to herself as he cell phone rung. She turned away from the Professor, leaning down by her night stand to pick up her cell phone. She glanced at the caller ID as she leaned back up. She let out a gasp as she saw the Professor was now standing. He still had his back turned to her as the phone stopped ringing.
'Professor,' she screamed out.
'Rogue, is everything alright?' the Professor asked her. 'You sound startled,' he said.
'You're not in my room, right now, are you?' she asked as she felt her breath coming fast.
'No, I am not- It's a telepath. I can not enter their mind,' he told her. 'I'm sending Beast to you now,' he said. 'Can you leave the room?' he asked.
'I haven't tired yet,' Rogue said as she started to slowly get up.
"Rogue," the Professor's voice yelled out, "stay seated," he commanded as she her body pushed down against the bed: face first.
'Prof, I can't move,' she told him as she willed her body to move: nothing happening. It was as though an invisible force was pushing her body against the bed.
'Try to stay calm, help is on the way,' the Professor told her as she felt her chin slowly being lift up.
'Hurry,' she thought panicked as she caught slight of the Professor, still standing in front of the window. "Miss. Harkness?" Rogue asked. "Is- is that you?" she asked: her heart beating frantically against her chest.
"Yes, child, it's me," the Professor's voice answered.
"What do you want?" Rogue asked desperately.
"I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you think about it very carefully before answering me. Is that understood?" he asked.
"Y- yes," Rogue said.
"At what point, were you first suspicious of this conversation?" he asked. Rogue's eyes widened at the question. She attempted to get her breathing under control as she thought about it.
"...When- The Professor's never come to my room this late before. I felt uneasy as soon as you came in. Something didn't feel right," Rogue answered as she heard noise from outside her door.
"I can't teleport in," she heard Kurt exclaim.
"Why didn't you trust your instincts?" he asked as she heard Kitty yell, "My powers aren't working either."
"We need to knock it down," she heard Mr. McCoy yell.
"You told me," Rogue started to say as there was a loud knock on the door, "Mystique targeted Scott. I was worried about him. I thought that was the reason you were acting strangely," Rogue answered.
"Rogue," she heard Mr. McCoy yell through the door, "are you still in there?" he asked.
"Yes," she screamed out. Her breath came fast as the Professor turned to face her: there was coldness in his gaze: the scared her to death. What was this woman going to do to her. "So, the lesson is I need to trust my instincts, right?" Rogue asked panicked as he slowly started to walk towards her. "I- I can do that, Miss. Harkness, I can do that," Rogue said: hoping that would be enough.
"Why else am I here, Rogue?" he asked.
"I- I'm not sure," Rogue said panicked. She watched his eyes narrow dangerously.
"Think before you speak," he commanded. Rogue screamed out in pain as her arm was twisted unnaturally and pinned behind her back. Rogue's eyes closed as pain shot up her arm.
"I'm sorry," Rogue yelled out: not knowing what else to say.
"Do not apologize," he ordered as her other arm was pinned behind her back as well. Rogue let out another scream; as tears ran down her face. "Do better. Why else am I here?" he asked again.
"You're here to access my process, for Irene," she yelled out. "You're here to test me," Rogue screamed.
"Test you on what?" she asked.
"How I think," Rogue answered.
'Rogue, we're trying to get the door open, but there is a shield around the-' she heard the Professor call to her.
"Ignore him," the Professor in front of her commanded as he arm was twisted further. She let out a scream. "What else?" he demanded.
"How fast I think. How much stress I can handle. If I'm paying attention," she called out as they noises from outside her door continued. The x-men had to be throwing everything they had at the door.
"And are you playing attention?" he asked.
"Jean," she heard Ororo said, "Follow me," Ororo ordered.
"Yes," Rogue screamed before her legs were twisted in the same unnatural state behind her back. Rogue's eyes shot open in response to the pain. "No, no I wasn't. Not well enough," she corrected herself.
"What did you do wrong?" he asked coldly.
"You and Irene gave me all the clues I needed. I had the rest from Magneto's mind. I should have-" she started to say: her voice faltering as tears ran down her face.
"Should have what, Rogue?" he asked.
"I should have known," she screamed out. "You warned me about Mystique, gave me the time line when she was going to wake up. I should've been paying attention to everything. But I didn't," she cried out as she opened her eyes Outside her window she saw Ororo and Jean flying towards her window.
"Why didn't you?" he asked as she made eye contact with Agatha Harkness.
"I told Prof and Magneto. I thought that was enough," she cried.
"And was it?" he asked.
"No, I was wrong," Rogue cried shaking head as Jean used a force field push against the window to open it. The standing Professor turned towards the window: he opened it himself and and pulled Ororo and Jean into the room: slamming them up against the wall.
"Please don't hurt them," Rogue begged as they both fell to the floor.
"There are dangers everywhere, child. You do not know when or who it will strike," he told her as Ororo formed a lighting bolt in her hand and aimed it at the fake Professor.
"I'll do better," Rogue cried out as Ororo attacked the fake Professor. "I won't assume," she yelled out as the Professor dodged the lighting bolt. "I'll go over everything I can. I'll be apart of every conversation," she yelled out as Ororo tried to punch the Professor.
"Child, do not make promises you cannot commit to," he ordered as her knee was brutally pressed up against her spine. If any more pressure was applied something was going to break. Rogue let out another cry in pain.
"Stop hurting her," Ororo ordered strongly as she attempted to blow the fake Professor out of the window. Agatha stood her ground, unaffected by Ororo's powers as she used her own to slam Ororo up against the wall again.
"Ororo," Rogue called out as they woman fell to the floor again. "What do you want me to say?" Rogue screamed. "What do you want?" she cried: her voice now horse from screaming out.
"What have you learned?" he asked making eye contact with her again. Rogue stared up into the Professor's cold eyes.
"I-" Rogue started to say. "I need to pay more attention to the clues Irene's giving me: like I did when Jubilee got back. That's how I'm suppose to handle things. I'm suppose to ask. I have ta keep asking questions and keep searching for answers even if I don't want to hear what those answers are," Rogue said shaking in fear.
"What else?" he asked as she felt some of the pressure on her limbs loosen. Rogue felt tears running down her face as the pain started to dissipate.
"I have to trust my instincts, and I can't trust Prof or Magneto to link things together, because they might-" she started to say as she felt a sharp pain in her arm again. "Will- will," she yelled out, correcting herself. "They'll miss things I won't," she cried out.
"Why?" he asked. Rogue's eyes widened as he dawned on her.
"Because Irene isn't training them," Rogue realizing what the woman wanted to hear. "She's training me. She choose me," Rogue said tears running freely down her face. "It's not their job to uncover what's gonna happen or to do Irene wants. It's mine. It's my job," she said: her entire body shaking with pain and fear.
"Yes, it is," he confirmed as she watched him look around the room. His gaze stopped on where Jean and Ororo laid on the floor.
"I'll do better," Rogue promised panicked. "Please don't hurt them anymore. I'll do better, I promise," Rogue said as the Professor took another step towards the her teammates. "I promise," she screamed: desperate for Agatha to stop.
"See that you do, child. Or I will be back for another lesson," he said before she watched him disappear in a flash of light.
Charles sat outside of Rogue's bedroom. He and his students were doing everything in their power to try to make it into the room in front of them. After Wolverine had unsuccessfully tried claw through the shield that surrounded the entire room, he had sent Logan, Cannonball and Sunspot to the attic to see if they could punch a hole in the ceiling and get in that way. Any student with fire power at their finger tips was aiming at the wall, seeing if a combined effort could breach it.
He had sent Storm and Jean to see if they could get in from the window and he was currently in both Kitty and Kurt's mind, trying to find out how the other telepath was keeping them from using their powers. He was working as fast as he could: but not nearly fast enough as he continued to hear Rogue screaming out in pain.
"Professor," Jubilee called out. "The shield's down," she told him he looked up to see Hank and Scott pushing against the bedroom door together: knocking it open.
"Rogue," Charles called to her as he made his way to door: Scott, Hank and Kitty piling into the room.
"Charles, get in here," Hank called for him as he got to the door frame.
"Everyone else, wait out here," Charles ordered to everyone else as he entered the room.
"Oh my god, Rogue," he heard Kitty cry, as he himself caught slight of Rogue. She was laying on her stomach, her face pressed against the bed. Her legs and arms were twisted unnaturally behind her back. Her face was pressed into the bed: and he could crying slowly: her limbs twitching uncomfortably. He quickly made his way up to her.
"Rogue," he said.
"I'm sorry," she cried softly.
"Shh," he hushed gently as Kitty came and seat on the bed next to Rogue. "Try to save your energy," he said gently. Why on earth was she apologizing? "I'm going to take the pain away, and we're going to get you out of this position," he told her as he entered her mind. "It's going to be alright," he told her gently: knowing it was lie.
About ten minutes later Charles sat in Rogue's room with Hank and Kitty, Scott, Ororo, Jean, Bobby, Kurt and Wolverine. He had the sent the others back to bed. Scott, Ororo, Jean and Bobby were sitting on the floor. Ororo was holding a ice pack to her head. Jean was using her powers to hold an ice pack to her head and Scott was holding one to Jean's lower back. Thankfully, neither of them had a concussion.
Rogue's body was now disentangled. She was still laying, on her stomach. Her legs were laying straight on the bed. Her arms were stretched out above her head. Hank was taking a closer look at her legs, checking again that nothing was broken. Kitty was sitting next to her: now with a pair of gloves on: rubbing one of Rogue's arm.
"Oww," Rogue whispered.
"Do you want me to stop?" Kitty asked.
"No, k- keep going," Rogue said: tears still falling down her face. "They fell asleep," Rogue told her.
"We moving her to the infirmary?" Logan asked his arms crossed over his chest.
"Please don't move me," Rogue begged in a whisper.
"We won't," Charles told her quickly.
"Alright, Bobby," Hank started to say. "I need another ice pack," he told him. Bobby grabbed another wash towel and made a small block of ice on it. He wrapped the towel around the ice and handed it to Hank. "Thank you," Hank said as he took it and brought it over to Rogue. Charles heard her let out a hiss in pain as Hank placed the ice pack on her back. Charles glanced up as he saw Magneto flying towards the institute.
"Charles, everyone," Magneto greeted as he flew in through the window and walked up to the bed and knelled in front of the bed.. "Do you want to absorb me?" he asked Rogue gently as he place his gloved hand on her shoulder. Rogue's eyes fluttered open as she met Magneto gaze.
"No," she told him: her voice barely audible. "I don't wanna be conscious right now," Rogue whispered.
"Alright," Magneto said tenderly as his ran his hand over her head. "Soon, my girl. I promise, but first, do you need to absorb your father?" he asked.
"I don't think anything's broken," Rogue muttered. "I'm just sore, and exhausted," she whispered.
"I'll go get her that pain killer, Kurt?" Hank asked as Kurt stood up.
"Please make it a shot, a sedative if you can," Magneto said.
"Alright," Hank said as Kurt placed his hand on Hank's arm and teleported them out of the room.
"Charles," Magneto said making eye contact with him. "This is two weeks in a row. Either she comes with me on the weekends or we stay here, one of the two," Magneto told him. Charles nodded.
"If you can protect her, you're welcome to stay here," Charles told him. Magneto nodded as Rogue began to cry softy again.
"Shh," he heard Magneto hush as he placed his face closer to hers.
"Max," she cried softly.
"Shh, my love," Magneto hushed. "Rest," he said gently. "I'm not going anywhere," he told her as Hank and Kurt teleported back into the room. Hank quickly walked up to Rogue. He sterilized a small spot of skin on her butt with an alcohol swab and administered the shot.
"Is she going to be okay?" Kurt asked worried.
"No," Rogue answered. "I'm not," she whispered as she closed her eyes. "I never was," she muttered as tears ran down her face. Charles took in a deep breath at the statement as Magneto met his gaze.
"What does that mean?" Kitty asked from across the bed: tears running down her face.
"Irene was testing me," Rogue muttered. "I failed," she cried.
"Shh," Magneto hushed calmly. "Explanations can wait till tomorrow, beloved. Rest," he said gently.
"And Scott was kidnap-" Rogue continued to cry.
"Rogue, I'm right here," Scott spoke up confused. "I'm okay," he said as Scott made eye contact with Charles. "I'm okay," he said strongly again.
"I'm sorry," Rogue cried again. "I'm so sorry," she cried.
"Shh," Magneto hushed as he lowered his forehead to rest on her head. Magneto hands went to her shoulders: rubbing them softly. "Shh," he hushed again. 'Charles, the sedative is taking far too long,' he told him. Charles nodded before he used his powers to render her unconscious. "What the hell happened?" Magneto asked enraged as Magneto turned to meet his gaze again.
"I'm honestly not sure," Charles answered: at a loss.
"Someone was torturing her," Kitty exclaimed as both Magneto and himself looked up at her. "It sounded like the professor, but it wasn't," Kitty said. "The person said that Rogue had all the clues she needed to figure out that Scott was going to be targeted and kidnapped by Mystique, like, before it happened. And Rogue was totally supposed to stop it from happening, but you just warned you both instead of doing what Irene expected her to do and she failed. She failed Irene's test, and this was her punishment," Kitty cried.
"What is wrong with this woman?" Logan asked enraged.
"But I'm okay," Scott exclaimed confused. "Jean found me," Scott said. "I'm less hurt than Rogue is right now," he said in disbelief.
"Mr. Summers, I afraid this wasn't about you," Magneto said. "Your safety was a tool Irene was using to train Rogue," he said.
"Why are they doing this to her?" Kitty cried.
"I don't know, Kitty," Charles said: shaking his head. "I wish to god I knew why," he said as he and Magneto made eye contact again.
"What are we gonna do?" Logan asked. "We can't keep letting Irene torture her," Logan said.
"No one is letting Irene do anything of the sort," Magneto said strongly. "We need to wait for Anna to wake up, and help her get back to a proper state of mind," Magneto said.
"Proper state of mind?" Logan asked enraged.
"The only other option is that I take her from this house now. I bring her somewhere Irene can never find her. Somewhere she will be safe," Magneto said.
"Okay, do that," Kitty insisted.
"Anna and I have discussed it. Once I remove her from here, Irene that will use whatever means she has to attack the lot of you," Magneto explained as a few gasps echoed throughout the room. "Irene will hurt, kill even, whoever she needs to until Rogue agrees to come out of hiding and continues to walk the path Irene has put her on."
"As much I wish to take Rogue from here right now. The moment she wakes up, Anna will demand I bring her back. But once I take her into hiding, I will refuse to bring her back. If I do so, I will be taking her captive and your x-men will suffer for it," Magneto explained as he made eye contact with Charles. Charles' eye widened at that. "My people will suffer for it as well. My children most likely," Magneto said darkly. "I only have so many safe houses for our kind. Anna, knows this," he said.
"Oh my god," Kitty gasped: putting her hand over her mouth.
"You should still take her anyway," Kurt exclaimed.
"Charles, which do you think would break her first? Fighting Irene, or worrying if the people she loves are being killed off because she refused to obey Irene's orders?" Magneto asked. Charles felt tears run down his face.
"This is too much for one person," Charles exclaimed.
"Irene, doesn't seem to care," Magneto said dryly. "As I said, we discussed it at length on Saturday and the only reason I am not fleeing with her at this very moment is because Anna laid out a very convincing argument as to why Irene has no intention of killing her. She will survive whatever Irene throws at her, otherwise what is the point of training her, or preparing her?" Magneto asked in anger as his hands ball at his side. "We wait for Rogue to wake up and we help her through this to the best of our ability," he said. "We help her in any way we can," Magneto finished strongly. There were many nods around the room.
OMG OMG OMG OMG! I cannot tell you all how proud I am of this chapter! I think this is going to be the last of my awesome updating for this week. I'm feeling better and I'm going to my Aunt and Uncle cabin in upstate Ny for the weekend! Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you all enjoy reading this chapter! Please, please, please let me know! What do you think about the direction this fic is going in? How are the relationships? Anything you want to see happen? Is is too dark at this point? Let me know?