One moment Magneto was in the infirmary screaming at his one friend and long time rival, the next he was picking himself up off the ground. As he stood up he was well prepared to yell at Charles some more for whatever the hell he just did, until he realized Charles was no where in sight.
Magneto blinked once and studied his surroundings. He was in a dark and empty room, only provided light by a small candle in the center of the room. Jean Grey and Dr. McCoy where no where in sight, and the room Magneto found himself in was room smaller than the infirmary room. Picking up the candle Magneto came to the realization that if he was not in the infirmary than Charles must have found a way to get him inside Rogue's head. A miracle considering the blocking reflex she had.
There was a single door on the far end of the room. Magneto bend the candle down and discovered that the metal door knob was copper, yet he could not manipulate it, nor could he feel it.
But then again he was not in the real world. Magneto reminded himself. He was in his girl's head.
The knob turned easily and the door opened to a long and partially lit hallway.
Magneto ventured down the corridor, straining to see with such little light. This was the first time he noticed that there was a door, on his right. Reaching for it, he noticed it was warmer than the other he had grasped.
The door opened and flung itself out of Magneto's hand, instead banging on the opposite wall. Magneto took no notice of it though, he was shocked enough to see the scene before him.
A skinny, lanky boy with neat hair and dirty clothes was being led into the Xavier mansion by a man in a wheel chair. Magneto could only assume it was Charles as their backs were turned. When the boy turned back to smile at Charles Magneto for the first time noticed that he was wearing ruby quartz glasses. Though the boy could have been Cyclops he looked significantly younger, by at least five years.
Cyclops lips weren't moving, yet Magneto could hear someone speaking.
"This is my second chance." Magneto heard. There was no deep tone in the words. This voice was higher pitched, the voice was probably a per-pubescent boy. Magneto continued to listen.
"Professor Xavier has been so kind taking me in, and he's going to teach me to control my powers!"
Magneto watched the two enter the mansion, and a new memory started to form before his eyes.
Magneto made a decision not to watch it. It was of no use to him and was only wasting time he could be spending on finding Rogue. The door was harder to pull shut, as though it wanted to stay open. Magneto knew that was a bad idea. These doors where closed for a reason, and nothing good would come of leaving one open.
The door closed reluctantly with a click.
Over the course of god knows how long Magneto had discovered many doors leading to memories, he found other memories that roamed free through the corridor. Needless to say Magneto was growing more irritable with every door he opened.
One in particular stood out. When Magneto opened the last door he was assaulted with the sound of high-pitched laughter coming from a valley girl wearing pink. Realizing too late who it was he was pulled into a memory of a shopping trip Kitty took with Amara. Hours of giggling, clothes, and make-up. When the memory finally ended Magneto tried desperately hard to close the door that wouldn't cooperate. It seems Kitty's psych didn't get visitors very often and wanted to keep company around. Magneto very nearly made it out as he pulled the door with such force that it slammed behind him.
A frustrating hiss escaped his lips as he stormed down the hallway. As much as Magneto appreciated Rogue's fascinating and brilliant mind he couldn't help but be irritated as he came to the realization that he was in fact probably going in circles. Rogue's mind was made up of labyrinth's inside other labyrinth's. And to make it worse there were some psyches that proved difficult to deal with.
At some point Magneto eventually sat down in the hallway, determined to think of a new strategy, wondering around hoping to stumble upon her was clearly not working.
Even if he were able to narrow it down to possible locations and memories where Rogue could be staying-and there where not many given the hostile psyches and Rogue's expressed desire to never pry at the memories of another-he had no map or guide. The chances of him finding a useful psych that was willing to help him where slim.
Perhaps he could draw her out with something though? Magneto raked through his mind, thinking of her hobbies. She didn't listen to music much, nor did she watch television like so many of the other students. When she had free time though she spent a good portion of it reading.
Magneto smirked lightly at the memory of watching her as she sat on the window bench in her room, reading Dracula by Bram Stoker over and over. He recalled that she once told him it was her favorite book.
But how would he make that work?
Before Magneto had time to formulate ideas he was interrupted by some of the free psyches wondering the halls. He barely had time to duck as a wave of ice flew past his head and into the wall.
Magneto looked up to see several of the New Mutants running down the hallway using their powers against one another, not an uncommon thing. Their games and rough housing matches often resulted in costly repairs. Magneto prepared himself to yell at them to stop when he noticed the scene changing before him, the hallway was forming into a different room. He was pulled into a memory.
It was the library where students were supposed to be studying, and instead using it like the danger room.
Magneto turned his attentions to the wide cases of bookshelves. As he knew time was limited in a memory, and if he was going to act he must do it fast. Deciding to ignore the foolish teenagers he made a dash for the bookshelves and quickly started grabbing titles he thought would interest Rogue. Luckily he picked the right bookshelf, this one consisted of well written old stories.
Realizing how quickly the memory was evolving Magneto grabbed at least six of them before going in the opposite direction from where the memory started, finding himself back in the corridor. He made a mental note to deal with the New Mutants later, should he run into them again in here.
Finding Rogue's memories proved to be easier than Magneto would have thought. Amongst all the chaos Rogue's memories stood out only because they didn't venture or flow noisily like the others. Like a black bird against a snow-white background.
Rogue's memories where slightly better organized than the others he encountered, or maybe it was just because they were quiet.
Her memories were situated like a simple maze, all the doors had numbers on them, going up to eighteen. Therefore Magneto concluded that there must be broken up by age, each door filled with a year's worth of memories. There where five major intersections in the maze, all leading to twists and turns until you came upon a door.
Searching all of her memories would take too long of course. Luckily Magneto had a better idea. For a long few moments he stood there in all the silence, just to be sure there was no noise. Satisfied Magneto extended his arm and, with a loud bang dropped one of the books, A Never Ending Story, in the center of a major intersection.
Now Magneto was a man who greatly appreciated knowledge, and would never so carelessly throw a book down like that, except now it was needed. The noise echoed through the small maze.
Magneto nodded to himself and moved to the next intersection, planning on doing the same, knowing the noise would be heard and his girl would find interest in the book. She would emerge, eventually.
Finding a quiet corner to sit at the beginning of the maze was the easy part, waiting was the hard part. Shortly after he settled down Magneto heard a soft click of a door opening, and closing. He resisted the urge to go near her, and instead practiced his self control in waiting.
He had no idea the state of mind Rogue was in, and if he made noise trying to get to her she would probably slip back into a door thinking he was an intruding psych. No, it was better to wait until the book put her into a peaceful state of mind where she would be calm and not notice his footsteps.
Meditating helped for a while. As an omega level mutant Magneto knew the benefits of meditating to improve ones ability and had become quite skilled at it over the years. Good, thing too. He would need it to keep himself from making a move yet, despite the overwhelming urges to go to Rogue.
He heard the book being picked up off the ground, and shortly after heard the pages being turned. Every two to three minutes. Magneto focused on his breathing through his nose.
More pages were turned, and turned. Eventually the book was set down and a minute later a new book was picked up. By this time Magneto had reached a state of clarity and calmness, even if it had taken longer than usual. He estimated it had been about two hours.
Finally he stood and walked down the hallway, with one hand on the right side of the wall, so he was not to get lost. He passed two unopened and dusty books before coming upon one that had been opened. Rogue wasn't far now.
He saw her up ahead, with her back turned to him, with her nose inside The Brother's Grimm.
Magneto resisted he urge to move quickly and grab her. He couldn't risk anything that might startle her, not after all the time it took to find her, and not after all his worry.
Quietly he walked over to her, waiting for her to hear him. When she didn't turn Magneto sat down beside her. With a tentative hand he set it on her shoulder. Rogue turned abruptly, startled by the motion. Magneto gave it a gentle squeeze.
"It's all right." He coaxed. "I didn't mean to frighten you, dear." Magneto hand went from her shoulder to her mass of brown hair. "How are you feeling?" He asked concerned, studying her.
Rogue's eyes looked heavy and her posture was not nearly as good as usual.
Instead of answering him Rogue scooted back against him, leaning into his hard chest, staring up at him.
"Erik." She whispered softly.
Magneto moved his arms to her waist and nodded. "Yes, Anna."
"Mmm. I'm tired. What are you doing here?" Rogue leaned back further into him.
"Charles must have found a way to send me into your mind, do you remember anything of trying to wake up in the infirmary?"
Rogue's eyes opened again as she grunted. She looked slightly confused. "Not a psych?"
"No."
Her eyes closed again as she relaxed.
"Rogue did you hear my question about the infirmary?" He asked.
She grunted in response.
"Anna?" He asked. "You're not going to sleep are you?"
"Tired." She growled again.
Magneto sighed. Maybe allowing her to lean against him wasn't the best idea. He needed her awake and in her right mind to help him discover the problem and fix it so the two of them could leave her mind. The memory of the infirmary loomed in his mind. She would wake up from this wouldn't she?
"Have you slept in your mind before?" Magneto inquired, and not waiting for a response continued. "Do you wake up from it?"
Rogue kept her eyes closed. "Course'. Not like infirmary." She said, as though she could read his mind. "Won't go into coma. Don't worry."
Magneto nodded and allowed her to rest then. He smiled lightly at the way she could guess at what he was thinking at the time, due to his memories in her mind. Although, he considered, while it might be amusing now it will be infuriating later when she used it against him in an argument.
Hours passed quickly before Rogue's body saw fit to wake. When she did however she found Magneto still close to her, allowing her to lean against him as he read the book she abandoned.
"How are you feeling?" Magneto asked once more, hoping to get an answer this time.
Rogue sat up and rubbed her neck. "Better."
"Sorry I crashed."
"Do not apologize, you seemed like you needed it. Any particular reason you were exhausted?"
"No, I just get tired easy in here is all."
Magneto set the book down and pulled Rogue into his lap, brushing hair out of her face. He cupped her cheek gently.
"You're lookin' at me kinda funny." Rogue commented. "Something wrong?"
Magneto continued to stare at her. He abruptly brought her face up to his and kissed her hard. His grip around her tightened, not painfully uncomfortable, but impossible to get out of. Rogue's lips where soft, and though her mouth was surprised for a moment, it welcomed him.
Magneto broke the kiss only for a breath of air.
"I've just been...very concerned." He said in response to her question.
Rogue still looked slightly confused, trying to remember. "So remind me again why you're in my head? Does it have something to do with your concern?" Rogue asked, using his choice of words.
Magneto loosened his grip slightly, just enough to give her room to settle in more comfortably.
"Yes, it does have something to do with that. Do you remember the infirmary? I tried to reach you."
Rogue brought the backside of her hand to her forehead and pressed. "Yeah, I think...I heard your voice definitely."
"How long have I been in the infirmary?"
"A week."
Rogue appeared slightly taken back. "Why so long?"
"I wasn't sure before I arrived, although now that I've seen what goes on in here I have formulated a partial theory that it may have something to do with the numerous memories and psyches that have taken residence in your mind."
"Oh, you've met the psyches I take it? Kind of overwhelming aren't they?"
"Indeed."
"Why a partial theory?" Rogue asked.
"Partial meaning I still haven't discovered why you are so buried in here in the first place."
Rogue shrugged. "Maybe it was just timing."
"Maybe, but unlikely. Something will have been required to knock you back so far into your sub-conscious."
"Like my sudden burst of cosmic power?"
"Certainly a possibility."
Rogue stared up at him, fiddling with his shirt collar. "Well terrific now that you've found me, how are we going to get back?"
"We will think of something." Magneto said as he moved to stand up. Rogue slid off his lap and glanced around, taking note of where they where. Magneto helped her stand afterward.
"Your mind is not very comfortable is it?" Magneto asked as he stretched, sore from sitting in the same position on a hard and uncomfortable floor.
Rogue smiled. "Common I have a place close to here, exactly like my room in the mansion, we can figure out our next move there if your finished complaining."She reached out and took his hand in hers, leading him down the hallway.
Magneto glared at the back of her head. "I was not complaining, merely making an observation."
Rogue grinned. "Mmhmm. Whatever. The room is behind door number 16, we'll be safe there from other memories and I promise it'll be comfortable."
"It would please me to wipe that smug look off your face." He announced as they reached door number 16.
Rogue continued to grin. "Ten bucks says you won't."
Magneto suddenly seized her waist pulled her against him, kissing her again. "That's ten dollars you lose." He commented as she broke it.
Rogue only shook her head. "Shall we?" She asked as she gestured to the door.
"By all means." Magneto said as he grasped the handle and turned it.