"The best theory I can speculate is that your cosmic burst of power had a "rubber band effect" and snapped you so hard back you became lost in the the void of your mind. This probobly would not have happened if the psyches and fragments were organized."
Rogue nodded. "The Prof, organized some back in Canada." She reminded him.
"Not enough." Magneto decided as he tugged her hair gently.
Rogue glared lightly at the man reclined on her bed. The room was quiet, unlike most of her mind. Sunlight came through the window a dark red color, the sun was setting in this memory. The color shone lightly against Magneto's white hair. The peaceful setting was making it difficult to be angry with him.
"He thought he had more time. No one could have known an incident would have happened this early." Rogue attempted to defend her mentor and former guardian.
Magneto appeared amused, whether it was because of the glare his lover was fixing him with or Rogue's words was unknown to her.
"Oh, Anna. Surely you know not even Charles could be that naive. How long did he think it would take. You are one of the most powerful mutants that have been manifesting for an entire year. That itself was a sign that your powers would not wait, and would not have much longer."
Rogue sighed angrily. "You can't blame him for reacting the way he did, Erik."
"Please. He claims to be one of the wisest men on the planet yet he couldn't see past his own ignorance and fear. He saw what you where the first time you entered his mansion. He knew you where full of untapped potential and danger. He ignored all of this for the sake of his fear hoping your great gifts would never be unlocked."
At this Magneto turned away and stared at the wall, angry. Rogue rolled her eyes and scooted closer to him.
"My lover is such a drama queen." She said as she pressed her face into Magneto's shoulder.
"Sugar we have been through this before." Rogue reminded him. "I know he was concerned and wary-" A snort from Magneto interrupted her. Rogue rolled her eyes once more. "Alright, he was scared. But there's nothing we can do now."
"Charles is a self righteous dreamer that fancies himself a noble peace prize nominee."
"He is who he is."
Rogue toyed with the fabric of Magneto's dark shirt. How he did look wonderful in black. She grinned as she thought of the rivalry between her lover and her mentor, knowing there had always been a sort of tension between the two of them, even before they became enemies.
Rogue suddenly burst out with laughter.
Magneto finally turned to her with a glare. "And what is it you find so funny?"
Rogue covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter. "Nothin'." She answered.
An arched eyebrow told her that Magneto was hardly convinced. "I am in no mood for games."
"Alright you wanna know? You won't like it." She informed him between giggles. Now it was Magneto's turn to roll his eyes. Rogue ignored that and decided to continue. "Fifty years of fighting on the battlefield and arguing over chess games has changed nothing between you two. From what I've seen your still the bestest of frenemies. You both still believe firmly in your ideas and what's more I think the arguing and glaring only fuels the two of you. Even through all the insults exchanged and the lines drawn you're still friends. I shudder to think of what would happen to one of you should the other leave this war."
Magneto stared at her wide eyed. "I'm...
"Not sure how to respond to that?" Rogue guessed.
He nodded. "Yes, exactly."
"Don't worry sugar, you'll realize this too, eventually."
Magneto glared quizzically. "Are you implying you know how I feel before I do?"
Rogue smiled again and cupped his cheek. "Oh, darling you have no idea." She took two fingers and tapped her temple. Reminding him once again of her advantage over him. Magneto smirked.
"It is a wonderful gift, pity you don't fully understand it."
Now it was Rogue's turn to snort. "Like you do."
"Who here as extensive knowledge of the mind due to extensive time spent with one of the most powerful telepaths in the world?"
"That would be you, jackass."
"Correct. Therefore forming the conclusion that my chances of understanding your mind are better than your chances."
"You have your advantages and I have mine."
After finally deciding they had rested and argued enough Rogue and Magneto left the safety of Rogue's memories. Together they made their way deeper into the northern hemisphere of the mind. Seeing as how mutations didn't work in here the only weapon the pair where armed with was their knowledge and what barley decent amount of control Rogue had over her mind.
"You've never been this concerned about controlling what happens in your mind before." Magneto commented.
"It was different before, I had the Prof. with me just in case."
Magneto reached over and seized her hand with care. He squeezed it firmly. "Remember this is your mind. You are in control."
Rogue nodded and squeezed his hand back, grateful for the reassurance he offered. "Thank you."
A comfortable silence lapsed between them as they continued. Rogue was still holding his hand, but Magneto found he didn't seem to mind. Eventually a hallway with walls similar to the mansion appeared. Rogue tugged him in that direction.
The hallway was lit and empty, but it led to many others, each seeming narrower than the next.
Rogue led them down into the end of the hallway where, if Magneto was not mistaken looked much like the elevator that led down to the danger room. Rogue pressed her fingers to the keypad, letting it make an identification. The machine beeped and opened to reveal what was indeed an elevator.
After stepping in Magneto examined the buttons, seven levels, four of them where underground.
"Where should we go?" Magneto asked.
"We're more likely to find psyches on the second level above ground."
"You mean the new mutants. If memory severs me right that is where their rooms are at the mansion."
Rogue nodded. "Yeah, so that's where some of them probobly are."
"Remind me again why we chose our first targets to be annoying children." He ordered.
"Because, if we get them out of the way first they can't bother us later. Not to mention that their not nearly as powerful as the others, they'll be easiest to lock up."
Magneto pushed the second level button. "They won't be difficult to find at all, just listen for the explosions and noise that disrupts the peace." The elevator opened with a ding to revel a hallway with plain doors.
And right on cue a loud banging resulted in one of the doors being completely thrown off it's hinges. Three of the New Mutants tumbled out. Jubilee, Jamie, and Ray. Rogue let go of Magneto's hand to bring her fingers to her temples in an attempt to concentrate.
Jubilee's psych was suddenly enclosed in a floating bird cage. Shouts of surprise and anger were heard from the New Mutnats. Jamie, still the youngest, chose to take off down the hallway and abandon his fellow psyches. Ray was another story.
With all his strength Ray charged Rogue.
Magneto moved to intercept him, but Rogue held one hand against his chest, silently urging him to stay put. Magneto looked inquisitive, but Rogue didn't have time to answer questions as she concentrated on put up a massive brick wall between her and Ray. The young mutant didn't have time to alter course and ran smack into it with a thud. Taking advantage of Ray's dazed figure she was able to lock him in a birdcage as well.
Jubilee started cussing and trying to break free. Rogue grimaced.
"Let's get them down to sub level 3." She said as she turned to Magneto. "Forget about Jamie."
Once inside the elevator with the captives it was suddenly much more cramped and uncomfortable.
When they arrived at level 3 Ray decided to start cussing along with Jubilee, that did nothing to help Magneto's mood. Rogue started scanning the area around her, desperately looking for a place to secure the psyches.
She opened an equipment room that was sometimes empty, and to her great relief it was this time. She gently levitated the cages down.
"I would very much like to hit them." Magneto announced.
Rogue tried to hide a satisfied grin with a glare, she failed miserably. Magneto noticed and grinned back at her. "Well it's not like I can harm them in the real world, not without earning Charles's lectures." He reminded her as he placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. His opposite arm came to wrap around her waist pulling her close to him.
"Imagine, just this once the satisfaction of silencing them." Magneto encouraged.
"Erik!" Rogue attempted to protest.
He leaned his forehead down to hers. "Allow me to have this one indulgence."
"You know what I'm going to say." Rogue replied.
Magneto sighed, frustrated. "Don't act as though you wouldn't enjoy it as well."
Rogue tapped her chin as though she were actually considering it. "Tempting...but no." Rogue stood on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek. "I'll make it up to you later." She promised.
Just as they were reluctantly parting a few moments later Jubilee's psych made a suggestive comment. Rogue's eyes lowered in anger and she completely sealed the cage with a metallic outside, preventing any noise.
"Little brats." She mumbled under her breath, her mood suddenly worse. Rogue took hold of Magneto's hand once again and led him out. "Common, let's go find the others."
Hours and hours later there were five cages in the storage room.
As Rogue once again started to head out Magneto grabbed her by the wrist. "You never did explain, why did you insist on capturing the oldest and the most powerful first when we could have easily picked off the others."
Rogue slid her wrist out of his grasp, irritated. "A main issue with the psyches is that there are too many free memories floating around. By getting the oldest under control we have taken out a huge portion, it was just my luck that they were some of the most powerful."
She glanced at the newest cages that contained Storm, Sabertooth, and Xavier.
"Why did we capture Sabertooth but neglect to capture Wolverine?" Magneto asked.
She sighed. "Your kidding right? Wolverine doesn't have nearly as many memories as Sabertooth does. His mind was wiped by Weapon X, remember. He has just about as many memories as Jamie." Rogue rolled her eyes at him.
Magneto raised an eyebrow. "Why are you irritated, Anna? It's not as though I have access to that information." He pointed out.
"Well maybe that's the problem." Rogue snapped.
Magneto's surprise was evident on his handsome features. Rogue immediately felt a stab of regret.
"Well in that case I apologize if I do not have the mutant ability of feeling and viewing memories." Magneto said as he turned around and walked out.
Rogue stopped him quickly. "I'm sorry." She blurted out. "Erik, wait, please. I'm...I-I'm just stressed. Locking up psyches takes a lot out of me."
Magneto was deciding his next words when he noticed she was trembling. He reached out to steady her. Even with both his hands holding onto her he could tell she was getting worse. That was when her tears started to form.
Confusion took over as Magneto watched the tears fall down her cheeks. He had never seen her crying before and never wished too. "I'm sorry!" She choked out. "I don't mean to act like such a bitch!" More tears fell.
"Anna, what on Earth is the matter?" Magneto asked. One little snide comment from his girl certainly did not warrant tears or shaking. It was a rarity for her to snap at him, but when she did she had never cried before. Honestly what had gotten into her?
"I'm not angry." He assured her. "Irritated as you are perhaps. But it was one comment, and certainly not a comment worth crying over."
Rogue tried to look up at him through her blurred vision. "What is the matter with you?" He asked again.
"Feels like my head is going to explode." She whispered. "I don't know what else is wrong with me." She admitted.
Magneto allowed her to rest her head against his chest. He firmly rubbed her back. "It's all right. You seemed fine when we captured the New Mutants." He pointed out. "I believe you have just overworked yourself, you are not accustomed to using so much of your mind power to fight the psyches." He attempted to reassure her with an answer.
"Anna, dear. Just breath, you need rest. You are untrained after all, one cannot expect you to capture them all in one standing. Rest."
Deciding that with Rogue's wobbling legs it would be better for them to sit, and Rogue insisted on crawling on his lap. Magneto knew as well as she did he was very rusty at comfort techniques, though it didn't stop him from trying.
Rocking her slightly back and fourth seemed to have a positive effect on her. The shaking stopped after a while and Magneto hoped the tears would soon follow.
After several minutes Rogue found her way to her feet.
This time it was Magneto to take hold of her hand. He desired to ask her if she wanted to wait another few minutes before moving but he knew she would not like that. Rogue was usually so confident, and if she thought she could make it back to her memories without suffering another small breakdown then he had faith in her. He owed her that much.
As the pair started to walk they both developed a hope that they would arrive within Rogue's memories without incident. Unfortunately fate had other ideas.