Monitors and readers beeped the same steady tune they had for the past few hours. The noises coming every three minutes, no change. The screen said the young woman's vitals were stable, but they gave no indication when she would wake.
It was hours after the battle on the moon. The X-men returned to their mansion. Professor Xavier was well engaged in a meeting with Lilandra, hopefully sorting out a situation to the mess the Shi'ar had caused.
Rogue, though she had performed admirably, was still unconscious. Beside her sat her lover, the Master of Magnetism.
It was not at all surprising that she had been knocked out cold. The very same had happened to Magneto the first time he channeled the Earth's Magnetic Fields through his body. If Rogue was going through the same thing she would most likely wake with a headache and hard, sore muscles.
Magneto reached over pulled the blanket to cover more of her abdomen. His fingers lightly grazed hers, stopping to let it linger. He moved his index finger to brush against her knuckles, watching her face, waiting for movement. He didn't expect their to be. Rogue may very well be out for days. Still he couldn't help but to glue his eyes to her.
He rubbed a little more firmly against her knuckles while he mused. Why wasn't he down with the meeting with Charles? Or looking out for the boy, Genesis? Magneto wondered to himself. And for the love of god, why was the urge to come and stay by Anna Marie Darkholm's side so strong? Yes he knew it was natural to be by your lover's side when they where injured, he has felt that urge before for others, and he did expect to feel it for Rogue. But he never thought it would be that insistense. That insistent. Like the urge to take metal and twist it, manipulate it, and feel it.
Where he younger, more absorbed in his plans for mutant domination and caring nothing for others he would have cursed her. Cursed her for the feelings she caused.
In the back of his mind Magneto thought that maybe he should, after all his lover was becoming quite the distraction, keeping him up at night...even when she wasn't in the room with him.
But no. He liked her too much to do that. That was a bad thing. He reminded himself. When you come to adore someone so much you can't leave their side. And when you can no longer hold back from expressing your fondness for them...whether it be holding tightly and kissing or sex.
The feeling was burning, a very pleasant type of burn. The type of emotion that demanded his attention, that screamed and tugged at him all hours of the day.
He put his hand on top of hers and squeezed it firmly. It was more for him than it was for her.
"Magnus." The Professor's voice brought Magneto out of his thoughts.
He turned, surprised. He hadn't heard Charles come in. Nor had he felt the metal wheelchair or the elevator move.
"We need to talk." The Professor's voice was firm, he was definitely not backing down and was planning on winning the argument that would undoubtedly ensure.
Magneto didn't take his eyes off Rogue. "About what?"
"This, relationship that you've started with her." The word relationship was said with difficulty. Like he would much prefer to call it something else.
"Again Charles?" His voice was dripping with irritant, and still hadn't taken his eyes off Rogue.
Professor Xavier's eyes lowered as he prepared himself. "Yes. You didn't think I would so easily forget about you becoming involved sexually when the girl in question was under-aged?"
"No, I suppose you wouldn't. What argument have you prepared this time? Have you come to tell me how sorely disappointed you are for my feelings toward Rogue?"
Xavier shook his head. "Despite what you may think Magnus I'm not angry at you for having your feelings."
"No?"
"No. I'm disappointed that you acted on these feelings of lust and fondness."
Magneto finally tore his eyes away from Rogue and turned the Xavier. "You say that as though the emotions are not mutual between her and I."
"I have no doubt that she felt the same. She was a child that had rarely felt physical contact since she was fifteen. Of course she would respond to your advances in kind."
Magneto's eyes glared, he didn't at all like what Xavier was implying. "Rogue was, and still is, a young woman that can control herself. Really Charles do you have that much doubt in her ability to restrain herself?"
"It was wrong all the same. She is a student, and you are in a position of authority over her."
"She is also a member of the staff, correct? What position of authority are you referring to?"
Professor Xavier sighed angrily. "It was also sexual misconduct. She is still in high school."
Magneto ignored that comment and continued. "This is the last time I will say this, Rogue is not the child you would like her to be. She is not a perfect solider, she is not completely under your thrall and belief of a dream-like world. Her experience with the memories of others make it impossible. She isn't a child."
Magneto paused for effect as he studied his friends blank face. "Rogue has intimately re-lived the lives of others, years and years worth of memories. You know this. How is it possible for her to be a child?"
Professor Xavier sighed again. "It is impossible to reason with you when you are so convinced you did nothing wrong. It was inappropriate sexual misconduct between a high school student and a man three times her age. No amount of arguing about her experience with other memories will change the fact that it was illegal."
"So if we had waited a few months until her eighteenth birthday it would have been perfectly acceptable?"
Xavier shook his head. "While it may not have been illegal it would have been inappropriate all the same."
Magneto turned back towards Rogue. "There is no reasoning with you."
"Nor you."
The rest of the week was dull. Students returned to their normal training schedules. A treaty was in the process of being made. Magneto was down in the infirmary every day waiting for Rogue to wake up.
Rouge, who was perfectly healthy and fully recovered, still had not woken. Needless to say the entire Xavier Institute was worried sick.
Beast had no answers. Moira had no answers either. Professor Xavier did have a theory though.
Though Rogue had recovered from using her physical abilities extensively this may be more centered around her mental ones. After having several metal probing scans of her mind Xavier concluded that she was deep within her own subcutaneous.
Every day for two hours Xavier melded his mind with hers, trying to find her. Every day was another failure.
In effort to try and bring Rogue out of it Kitty and Kurt read to her, poked her, and told her jokes. None of it worked.
Scott visited every other day, giving her one of his leader like pep talks, and inform her she was missing training. Like that would work.
Genesis visited as well. Through protecting him, a bond of trust had been created between the two. In a mansion full of people that feared him and where uneasy about the idea Apocalypse staying close it seemed Rogue was the only one he trusted fully.
The negotiations with the Shi'ar where looking hopeful. Lilandra was open to hearing ideas, but equally open to rejecting them quite fast. Xavier has been in constant contact with Genesis parents. Once explained how much power their adoptive son would inherit they agreed the Institute would be the best place for him, though it would be his choice.
Genesis elected to stay. By that time Professor Xavier was almost sure Rogue had made the right decision. After spending a few hours a day in meditating lessons with the boy he discovered traits about Genesis. He was sweet-tempered, kind, and enjoyed playing catch. He was the last person you would expect to be spawned from possibly the most evil mutant that ever lived. It may just be the way that his adoptive parents raised him. Perhaps Apocolypse had not been born evil, maybe it was harsh desert and the murderer Baal that molded him into the survival of the fittest lunatic that he was.
Although it didn't matter now. The only thing that took precedence was the treaty. S.H.I.E.L.D. was putting pressure on the X-Men to speed things up, they apparently didn't entertain the idea of keeping the aliens around for very long.
The New Mutants where getting anxious with Rogue not waking up. Rumors started pretty quick that Bobby would nominate himself as the next leader. When the subject came up at dinnertime Magneto couldn't help but scoff.
The boy's nativity was becoming very irritating.
After dinner Magneto went down into the infirmary to see Rogue.
Though he sat down next to her he never spoke to her as the others did. He simply watched her and examined the monitors ever few minutes.
This visit, he decided, would be different.
Magneto reached out tentatively and placed a hand on her covered shoulder. He used his thumb to kneed in a circular motion. Firm, but gentle. "Rogue. Dear, if you can hear me, I need you to wake up now." He said strongly.
"Genesis is staying at the mansion now." He spoke conversationally. "He visits you, every few days. As do Ms. Pryde and your brother. They talk about their day and how horridly cruel I am to them in training. They say you need to wake up soon and convince me to "ease up" on training."
Magneto chuckled to himself. "It wasn't until they began complaining, well more than usual, did I realize how well we worked together. We were both difficult on them, but you knew when to show mercy on them. Something I have not yet grasped. I'm afraid if you don't wake soon, we may have more than a few students who might try and violently protest. How terrible the consequences of their stupidity would be for them."
He stopped rubbing her shoulder, just rested for a while.
"You know I do believe the reason Genesis comes down here is because he needs you. You may very well be the only one he trusts fully. The others fear him. They voiced their opinions to Charles. None of the New Mutants want the next Apocalypse sleeping under the same roof as them. You defended him, you still do. He's decided to stay at the Institute. I know you would make the transition easier, I'm doing all I can with him, but I am rusty at these emotions. Genesis needs you. But you have to wake up, Rogue."
Magneto abandoned her shoulder for her hair, twisting and pulling it out of her face. It was getting longer, about down to her shoulders. He admired the white stripes that framed her face.
"Genesis need you." Magneto repeated. "Everyone wants you to wake."
Magneto removed his hand away from her. Rogue's neck now fell at an odd angle. Slouching. Magneto moved to adjust her pillow and her head. He had to lean over her to fix it, he felt her breath close to his neck. Magneto was very careful not to let their skin touch, uncertain whether it would make things worse.
He moved his hand to her hair using it to protect him from her skin as he gently fixed her head into what looked to be a more comfortable position. Magneto kept his hand there. His sleeve against her noose.
"Anna... I want you to wake."
Magneto stared at her until the clock dinged 8. It was almost time for training.
He removed his hand and decided it would be best to prepare, he'd visit with her again tomorrow.
As he was about to leave a small sound echoed from inside the room. Like the sound of metal being kicked. Along with it came the beeping of a monitor. Rogue's vitals had just spiked.
Magneto turned just in time to see her toe wiggling against the metal bar of the hospital bed. He returned and placed his arm on the bed, near her for leverage as he examined her face. Her eyes opened only slightly, just enough for him to get a flash of her deep green eyes, an exact opposite of his ice ones.
Her face fell against his arm forcefully as she strained to open her eyes again. Pressing into his arm.
Rogue managed to look at him one more time before the force against his arm stopped, she was no longer pressing into him. Her eyes closed and she became still. The beeping of the monitor stopped, her vitals were stable and normal now.
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