AN: Sorry guys, this is going to be a long one. Clocking in at almost 12,000 words again, this episode serves as more of a link between Episode Four and the next two episodes ("Bishop" and the midseason finale "Avalanche", Check the descriptions for those on my profile). Don't think you should just skip this though, it has very important character development, character introductions, and a lot of plot revolving around Rogue including where she was prior to the Sentinel Project, why she joined, and why she stays.
As usual guys, please leave reviews if you read the story to let me know all of this work isn't going to waste! X-Men: Standing Guard Episode Six: "Bishop" (which introduces Kate Bishop/Hawkeye III) will be aired over the course of two weeks because of its extremity in length, so don't miss that! Check out my profile and subscribe to my Twitter for round-the clock updates! Now enjoy!
WARNING: The following episode contains a scene of mature sexual nature. Reader discretion is advised.
Alarms rang throughout the building. The blue-skinned female looked about anxiously like a lost little girl. She dashed frantically down one corridor, two soldiers barred her way out. She turned down another hallway, more soldiers. She ran right through them, knocking them to the ground and morphing into a soldier, her body raising itself, her blue skin turning into green fabric as she ran, and her slick red hair, pasted to her head, turning into a black helmet.
Alarms rang throughout the base. With her new disguise in place, the mutant slowed and walked down the hallway, soldiers rushing past her. She turned towards an elevator and got in. Two other soldiers ran in and stood next to her, rifles in hand. She nodded at them and stood silently as the elevator moved up. Twenty stories until the surface...ten...five.
"Where are you going?" One soldier asked. The female froze, stiff, unsure.
"The new MM-16, Fury wants me to take it out for a test flight." the second soldier replied.
"How fast is it?" the female asked, an idea growing in her head.
"The fastest." the second soldier responded. "Nothing is near this speed."
"Can it breach the sound barrier?"
Both soldiers looked a her curiously. "Of course, everything can..."
The female nodded and the other two soldiers turned towards the door. One floor left...
The female grabbed their heads and rammed them together with such brute strength that she cracked their helmets. Both fell unconscious to the ground. The blue-skinned female switched forms again, this time into the pilot who would be taking the new ship.
She walked out of the elevator and calmly into the bright light. She stumbled slightly. It had been so long since she had breathed real air, felt real sunlight on her skin, felt heat, not just the artificial coolness of the lab. Her legs quivered and she stumbled slightly, like a newborn deer. She steadied herself, took a deep breath, and proceeded calmly and orderly towards the helicopter.
"Hey!" A soldier called, waving her down. "I need to see your ID badge before I can let you fly."
"Of course," The female responded, showing the soldier the ID badge pinned to her uniform.
"Okay," the soldier said, jotting the number down in the notebook. "Now I just need your security code."
The female froze. Making a split-second decision, she punched the guard in the jaw and ran, morphing into her blue form as she ran.
"Hey!" the soldier yelled. "Someone stop her! She's a mutant!"
The female pushed through anyone who got in her way with superhuman strength, climbing into the helicopter. She started up the engine. A soldier climbed in and tried to wrench the controls from her hands. She pulled out his pistol and shot him point blank in the head, splattering blood on the seat and window. Another soldier ran up and she shot him three times in the chest. The blades were spinning quickly now and she pushed the stick in, moving down the runway, forcing others to get out of her way. She pulled back sharply and the helicopter took off, flying into the pale blue sky. Military officers were already responding on the ground.
"A mutant has seized the ship! Shoot it down!"
Ground turrets came online, and within a matter of seconds had targeted the helicopter, opening fire on it.
Flak spread thick and heavy around the helicopter. The female looked around desperately and pressed a green button. The helicopter shot forward and out of range. Thoughts rolled through the female's head like waves on a beach. Where was she? How long had she been in her cryo-tube? How was the Weapon X project going?
The female knew two things: her name was Mystique, and she needed to find her friend Erik Lenscher. As soon as this thought popped into her head, two helicopters rose up in front of her and fired. The bullets pierced the cockpit and Mystique screamed in pain as a bullet ripped through her arm. The controls jammed, lights flashed, sirens filled the cockpit and she felt a large series of powerful shakes as the helicopter crashed into the forest. She stumbled out. Flying was useless. She'd have to make her way on foot from here.
Wherever here was...
It was almost dusk, the sun was setting on the horizon through the low hanging mahogany trees, their vines drooping the ground like many dangling arms. The grass, though unkept, was short, almost as if the humidity and heat were forcing it to keep low to the ground and droop like the vines above it. A frog hopped through the grass, causing it the blades of wasted green to move slightly. This was one of many land-patches in the swamp. Rogue moved easily between them, not quite sure what she was searching for.
The southern belle had switched from the gear she had been assigned to wear, labeling her as a government agent, to some more comfortable clothes. She was wearing skinny jeans and boots, laced halfway to her knee. Her shirt was red plaid, unbuttoned to the top of the white tank-top she had on underneath it. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail, the white streaks running down the center of her head. On her hands she wore a pair of tan gloves.
Rogue sighed, looking around one more time before climbing into her motorboat and speeding away.
Rogue traveled back to the hotel she was staying in. It belonged to some friends of her foster mother's (Irene Adler) and they were glad to let Rogue stay the past week and a half, and learn all about her fake life. Rogue enjoyed the company, true southerners whom she could strike up a two hour conversation with just by greeting them with a "hi!". She appreciated the men opening doors for her, she appreciated a great many things about the South.
Two things she loved the most: they didn't talk funny down here, and the food.
It had been years since Rogue'd had some good Cajun or southern food. She had treated herself to the best: shrimp boil, catfish, cornbread, gumbo, jambolya, and so much more.
Her favorite food, though, was catfish, which she was currently chowing down on. She had finished her third fish and was starting on her fourth when her phone rang. She sighed, looking at the Caller ID, before standing up and moving to the corner.
"It's rude t' call when someone's eatin' y'know." Rogue greeted.
"Agent Rogue, we need you back at headquarters. There's been an Omega level breakout. You and X-23 are assigned to bring her in." Trask growled from the other end of the line.
"Ya need t' make up yo'r mind." Rogue said. "Find Gambit or hunt down mutants."
"Now, Agent Rogue!" Trask yelled. Rogue could hear him spit in his anger.
"Yeah, real gentl'm'n." Rogue huffed. "I'll come when I'm done with my catfish, damnit."
X-Men: Standing Guard
Season 1 Episode 5
"Mystique"
Xavier Institute
November 22, 07:30 EST
Amara groaned and rolled over in her plush bed, hitting the alarm clock to shut if off. She buried her head in her pillow and tugged the fluffy white sheets over her head.
Amara's room was lavishly decorated. Her bed was a King-sized mattress with a large, dark, wooden headboard and lavish curtains hanging from all sides. The curtains were a majestic and beautiful, while at the same time innocent, see-through pink. Amara never closed them, they were only for aesthetics. The bed itself was covered in multiple layers of soft, white sheets and a rich, elaborately sewn, very plush comforter. Half a dozen soft, feather pillows lay messed up across the head of her bed.
Amara had covered the hardwood in her room with rugs of the same plush nature. Some were a simple white like her bed, others were more modern with bright colors and overlapping circles. Amara had a nitpick: she hated to have anything but soft fabric and warm water touch her until she woke up. If anything else did touch her, she was grouchy for the whole day.
Almost ten minutes later, Amara finally sat up in bed, rubbing her brown eyes. She scratched the side of her head, further messing up her long, brown hair. She stretched her arms and then laid back down, stretching her legs like a cat. After two minutes of stretching, yawning, and generally waking up, Amara stood up and stretched her toes in the carpet. She yawned and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower; nothing but hot water and steam.
The bathroom wasn't especially over-designed. It had cream tiles on the floor and halfway up the wall. A soft, brown, elaborate crown molding separated the tile from the rose wallpaper. Amara had an elaborate bathtub installed when she moved in, much to the other girls' frustration. The shower-head flowed into this, purely for lack of space. Amara enjoyed hot showers in the morning and even hotter baths at night before bed. She was a girl of routine.
Amara stripped off her clothes and stepped under the stream of hot water, pulling her head back and letting it rush onto her face. She let the water rush over her slim body for some time before bathing, rinsing, and getting out.
Amara grabbed a plush white bathrobe and slid it onto her body, not bothering to tie it, but leaving it open. She dried her hair before exiting to her bedroom, crossing the floor and opening her closet.
Amara didn't indulge in many rich objects, but she loved two things: her clothes and her bedroom. Amara's closet was full of shirts, pants, jackets, hats, and other clothing items. She had her shoe rack sitting outside the closet door, holding innumerable pairs of shoes. Amara reached inside and looked around before pulling out a white turtleneck sweater and black, skin-tight jeans. She dropped the robe and slid on the clothes, looking at herself in the mirror with a look of disapproval.
Amara ducked back in her closet, emerging a moment later with a red vest. She buttoned it up, but tossed it back into the closet before she had even gotten a good look at it. She tried on two more options before settling on a black tank top with thick shoulder straps that came up short of her waist. She smirked and slid on her heeled boots, leaving her room and heading downstairs to breakfast.
Most of the mutants were up. The only ones missing were Kurt, Jean, and Scott. Kitty and Bobby were bickering back and forth at the table, but Bobby's eyes gravitated towards Amara as she entered the room, only increasing Kitty's frustration.
"Good Morning, everyone!" Amara greeted, sitting down and grabbing a helping of scrambled eggs.
Greetings were passed around the table, either with full mouths or sleepy attitudes. Amara shrugged and grabbed a piece of toast, spreading grape jelly on it.
"I suppose now is better than ever to announce this." Charles said. "Rahne will be participating in her first team exercise today!"
Everyone, well mostly everyone, cheered and passed congratulation on to Rahne, sitting at the other end of the table.
"So what exercise are we doing today, Professor?" Amara asked, pouring a glass of orange juice.
"Scott's favorite." Xavier replied. "Whatever he calls it."
"Stock and Destroy or something like that." Amara shrugged. She turned to Rahne. "You'll like it. It's fun!"
Rahne smiled.
Iceberg M
November 22, 08:13 EST
Magneto's ranks had grown much more than Charles' had. Magneto outnumbered the X-Men three to one. In addition to having taken most of the students, he had also been actively recruiting, something Xavier hadn't been doing. Among Magneto's most recent recruits were Tabitha Smith, who had named herself Boom-Boom, Todd Tolanski, or as others had nicknamed him: Toad, and finally Pixie, a pink-haired, elfish looking mutant who had the ability to create portals through space.
Magnet had called all of them into the large dome nearest the frozen ocean. There had to be at least sixty mutants jammed into the building, talking, joking, grumbling. Magneto walked onto the stage and silenced everyone merely by raising his hands.
"My brothers and sisters!" he greeted. "We have accomplished much, so far. We have set up this small settlement where we live in peace..."
Magnet continued with five minutes of an opening speech. Nobody liked the beginning of the speeches, despite the amount of work he put into them, but by the end they were ready to follow him to purgatory and back.
"...and we will accomplish much more! I have several important missions for all of you."
At this everyone in the crowd perked up. Most of them had yet to leave the iceberg they now called home. Any chance of a mission excited them.
"Wanda, you are to lead a small squad to recruit our latest mutant brother: Pietro Maximoff."
"Boom-Boom, you and several others will be raiding a series of merchant ships in the North Atlantic. Make sure the humans know what hit them." At this, Tabitha smirked and ignited a fireball in her hand.
"Pixie, I need you and two others to check in on our dear friends in the United States government. Do it discreetly."
Magneto kept on going down a list. Mutants needed recruiting, humans needed terrorizing, supplies needed gathering, and by the end, only a skeleton crew was left to defend the Iceberg.
"Pyro, Polaris, Havok, you three will be joining me to hunt down an old friend of mine who will prove very useful to our cause."
"Who is it?" Havok asked gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Her name is Raven Darkholme. Some of you may have heard of Mystique. She is the mutant."
Havok raised his eyebrows under his shades.
"Where's she been all this time if she's such a good mate t'ya?" Pyro demanded.
"Imprisoned by homo-sapiens in the Weapon X project." Magneto said. "My mental connection with her was re-established when she escaped this morning."
"Weapon X?" Pyro asked. "Aren't they the ones who created Badger?"
"Wolverine," Magneto corrected. "And yes, they did create Wolverine. You understand how she could be of great use to us."
Pyro smirked.
"You have anything to say?" Havok asked, leaning next to Lorna. She made a slight noise of surprise before shaking her head and looking down.
Sentinel Project Main HQ
November 22, 08:22 EST
X-23 walked down the hallway of the Sentinel Project. The weapon had matured in the month since Rogue had been away. She had gained half an inch in height and was looking much more grown up now than before. Granted, she still looked fourteen, fifteen (no one was quite sure of her age), but she looked less petite and more teen. She had cut her hair. It was still long and brown, only going to her shoulders now. Her eyes were still the same creamy brown, but with more determination in them.
She had changed her clothes too. Before, X only wore her uniform and official "lax" clothes from the Sentinel Project. Now she was wearing black skinny jeans and black combat boots. She wore a navy-blue tank-top with thin straps, a low neckline, and a hem that came up well short of her waist. Over this she wore a black leather, slim-cut motorcycle jacket which she left unzipped. The sleeves were only 3/4 length. She had covered her hands with some sexy motorcycle gloves. Rogue had to admit the girl could pull off the style.
"X!" she called. X turned, saw who had addressed her, and continued walking, facing straight.
"What's wrong witch you?" Rogue asked.
The red-head had let her hair down, having cut it to just beneath her ears. She was wearing a velvet green sweater with the shoulders cut out and the shorter sleeves like X's. She, too, was wearing skinny jeans and combat boots.
"The necklace is new." X commented dryly.
Rogue touched it. "Some'in' uh my mother's." she replied, looking at the emerald gem. "Why are you so upset?"
X remained silent.
"Is this because I didn't take ya with meh?" Rogue asked. "I've already explained, X, I needed some time, and tracking Gambit is a one-girl type uh job. Besides, it ain't like-"
X stopped, turned, her hair swishing behind her, and glared at Rogue.
"I am not upset you did not take me with you!" she exclaimed. "I am upset you did not tell me you were leaving. I am upset you did not tell me good-bye!"
Rogue stared in shock for a moment, others passing them in the hallway. X sighed and turned forward, blinking quickly to hold back tears. "Maybe I over estimated my worth. Maybe all I am to everyone is a soldier, a weapon. Maybe that is all I was meant to be."
"X!" Rogue exclaimed. "No-that's not what-Why would-"
X kept walking forward.
"I'm sorry, X." Rogue said. "I didn't know you wanted me to say good-bye."
"You are like a sister to me, of course I wanted you to say good-bye." X replied, reaching up quickly to brush a tear away. She breathed deeply, steadying herself. "It is not important. We are here for a mission briefing, not talking."
X opened the door to Trask's office and walked in, leaving Rogue in the hallway with an open mouth, dazed. What had just happened? After a moment, Rogue collected herself and walked into her boss' office, shutting the door behind her.
Trask's office hadn't changed one bit since the last time Rogue had been here, and neither had it's occupant. Trask frowned at Rogue as she entered.
"Nice t' see ya, too." Rogue muttered under her breath, folding her arms over her chest.
"Agent Rogue, X-23." he greeted monotonously. He tossed a file at each of them, purposely making Rogue's fall to the floor. Rogue clenched her fists and stood still. He wanted to act like a jackass, she'd show him what a jackass was.
"Pick up the file." Trask ordered.
Rogue stood still.
X sighed. "Just pick up the goddamn file." she ordered.
Rogue looked at her in surprise. X-23 never cursed or used slang. Rogue bent over and picked it up, shooting a glare at Trask.
"Mutant escapee from the Weapon X project." Trask started. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has been cleaning that place out since the turn of the century. They have no idea how much progress they've made. The facility is massive, extending for miles in either direction and going to the very edge of the Earth's crust. They suspect it's been there since pre-World War I." Trask emphasized the number of the war.
"The mutant's name is Mystique. Prior to her disappearance thirty years ago at the end of the Cold War, she was on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted list. She was a terrorist and an assassin." At this, Trask glanced discreetly at X-23 who was diligently reading the file and didn't so much as blink at the word "assassin". Rogue frowned but kept quiet. "She escaped this morning, killed three people, crashed a prototype helicopter, and is hiding out in the woods."
"So what's her mutant ability?" Rogue asked.
Trask glared a her pointedly before replying. "Before two years ago, we didn't know mutants existed. Part of the description in her file was she could fit in very well to crowds. We assumed this meant she had some charm and could easily impersonate someone else. After this morning's reports though, we believe she's a shapeshifter."
Rogue wrinkled her nose.
"What is our mission, sir?" X asked, closing the file and folding it, along with her hands, behind her back.
"Find this...terrorist and kill or capture her. We can not let her escape."
"Yes, sir." X replied.
"Be careful, X-23." Trask warned, purposely leaving Rogue out. "There will be other parties after this mutant. Find her first."
"Yes, sir."
"Dismissed!"
X filed out orderly. Rogue followed and slammed the door, hard, to indicate her disappointment.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded.
"What are you referring to?" X asked cooly, yet angrily, her eyes facing forwards.
"You know exactly what I'm referring to! Yo'r change uh clothes, yo'r use uh language, everyone purposely leavin' me out or being a plain ass. What the hell happened?"
"As far as my clothes go, I decided I wanted a change." X started. "My language was a slip during my frustration at your childish behavior."
"I wasn't acting childish!"
"No one is leaving you out, Secretary Trask addressed you when you entered his office."
"Like somethin' out uh his cat's litterbox."
"And perhaps people are tired of you doing your own thing, leaving unannounced, not seeming to have a care in the world other than Rogue." X turned sharply, glaring at her. "Perhaps that is why everyone is acting like an "ass" towards you."
X stormed off down the hallway to her room to change into her uniform, leaving Rogue where she stood.
"An' I thought I was bad..."
Xavier Institute
November 22, 09:28 EST
The mutants walked onto the front lawn. The clouds were grey and a strong wind was blowing over the mansion. A storm was approaching, and Ororo had guaranteed only this morning's practice would go interrupted, then the mutants would have to train in the Danger Room until it passed.
The mutants assembled for this morning's practice, excluding instructors, were Shadowcat, Iceman, Magma, Emma Frost, Nightcrawler, Cannonball, Danielle, and Rahne, who had taken the name Wolfsbane. They were all dressed in their official X-Men uniforms.
Jean and Scott, followed by Charles and Storm, walked twenty yards from the house before whistling for everyone to stop.
"Okay, since Ronny's never played this before, I'm going to explain the rules." Scott said. "There are two teams: Green and Yellow. There are fifty frisbees for each team. Jean is going to disperse these frisbees across the course."
"Your goal is to collect as many of your colored frisbees as possible, and destroy as many of the other team's frisbees." Scott finished. "Whoever ends up with the most points gets to skip the Danger Room this afternoon."
Cheers went up amongst the small body of students.
"Okay, Kitty and Bobby are team leaders." Scott exclaimed. "Kitty, you choose first."
"Aww come on! That's not fair!" Bobby exclaimed.
Kitty smirked. "I choose Ronny!"
"Yes!" Rahne exclaimed. She was upset people were mispronouncing her name, but tomayto tomahto she thought. She ran over next to Kitty while Bobby groaned and picked Emma.
"Nightcrawler!" Kitty called.
"Magma!" Bobby exclaimed.
"Danielle!"
"Cannonball."
"Okay teams!" Scott called. "Five minutes to plan, and we start when I blow the whistle!"
The teams separated and went to their individual bases. Kitty pulled her group into a circle as if they were playing football.
"Ronny-"
"Rahne"** Danielle corrected.
"Whatever," Kitty replied. "You're going to be great at this! You and Nightcrawler will be our main retrievers, Danielle and I will run interference and try to destroy as many of their frisbees as possible. How many can you carry at once, Ronny?"
Rahne grimaced. "Err... Two or three in my wolf form. I could carry more in me werewolf form, but I'm kinda unstable init."
"Well don't push yourself too hard, it is just a game." Kitty replied.
Redacted Location
November 22, 09:37 EST
Mystique gasped as she used her good arm to haul herself into a tree. She sat on the branch and looked around. This forest was much larger than she had first thought. It was so large that she couldn't even see the end of it. Her instincts told her she was heading in the right direction for New York, but she had no clue how far away that was or even where.
Mystique bit her tongue as she hauled herself up further in the tree. She was in pain. As a world-class assassin, she was used to pain. She had been asleep for God-knows-how-long, however. Her skills were rusty.
Something moved in the brush beneath her and she shifted. Two pairs of footsteps. She jumped, turning into a bird halfway down and gliding before landing in the grass as a snake. She slithered away, right past the two girls.
Rogue shivered as Mystique passed. "Like right outta de Garden." she whispered.
Rogue and X-23 had switched to their uniforms. Rogue's was the standard black-blue hue bodysuit. She had on a green breastplate, though that seemed to serve only the purpose of emphasizing her perfect breasts. The breastplate started around her neck, curving like a necklace would. It stopped just below her breasts on her front, but continued to her lower back on the reverse side. She had two utility belts: one slouched at her waist, giving a sexy look to her hips and a certain sway she had learned guys were irresistible to. The second utility belt was strapped tightly to her right thigh. Both of these were the same dark green hue of her breastplate. She wore black, knee-high combat boots with highlights of the same green. She, like X-23, wore motorcycle gloves. Shoulder pads sat on her shoulders, gold with the black and red Sentinel Project logo inside.
X-23 had changed her field uniform too. She had disposed of the owl-like mask and went bare-faced now. Her pants were tight, made of a black, leather-like material. The pants were designed in a way Rogue had never seen before. Almost as if X were wearing a bikini bottom and knee-high black boots with see-through fabric covering her thigh. This was only fabric but it gave X an entirely new look.
X's utility belt sat perfectly on her hips, separating her top from bottom and moving with her hips as she walked. Her boots were normal combat boots. Her top was a tight shirt like Rogue's with gold shoulder pads sewn in. A high neck gave the impression that X had turned up her coat's collar although one did not exist. Strangely enough, X had left her top unzipped most of the way, revealing the standard tank-top underneath which showed quite a lot of cleavage for such a small girl. Her hands were covered by the same gloves Rogue wore.
The two continued in silence until Rogue finally spoke.
"So we ain't talkin' any mo'?" she asked.
X remained silent.
"Well, it's betteh if ya listen anyway." Rogue said. "X, I'm sorry I didn't say good-bye. I'm sorry I didn't letcha know where I was headed, what I was doin'. Yo're like a little sistah to meh, and I hate tuh hurt yah. I could come up witch excuses 'bout how I was...emotionally distraught, or how I didn' think you'd wanna hear it, but that ain't worthy of ya. You're too good to be treated the way I treated ya, and I'm sorry."
X remained silent still.
Rogue bit her lip. "I still love ya, X. I always will."
"Damnit." The brunette muttered, turning to Rogue with tears in her eyes. "Why must you apologize in such an emotional way?"
"Because I care about ya." Rogue replied.
X wrapped her arms around Rogue's neck and hugged her, hard. Rogue returned the embrace. The two girls stood there for a moment until they heard something in the bushes.
X whirled around, claws out, but Rogue put a hand on hers and she sheathed them.
Four figures emerged from the bushes: Magneto, Pyro, Havok, and the green-haired Lorna.
Rogue looked as surprised to see them as Magneto did at finding someone else in these woods.
"Erik? Alex?" she asked. "What're y'all doin' here?"
"Rogue!" Magneto greeted. "It has been a long time since I saw you."
"Yeah," Rogue said, stepping forward. "What're y'all doin' here? Did the Professor send ya?"
"Professor?" X asked.
"No," Magneto replied. "Charles and I split months ago. His ways grew weak and would have doomed us all. Most of the students left with me."
X-23 was getting more and more confused.
"What happened?" Rogue asked. "Y'all were best friends!"
"As I said, we had a falling out." Erik replied. "Come join me Rogue. All of your old friends are there." Erik reached out his hand and stroked Rogue's white streak of hair, then brushed his hand against her cheek. "I could use you to fight the humans."
X, upon seeing Magneto's hand running against Rogue like that, finally had enough and stepped forward, unsheathing the claws in her hands. "That is it! Step away from her!"
"X!" Rogue hissed.
Erik's eyebrows raised, as did the other members of his party.
"Adamantium claws..." he whispered, dropping his hand from Rogue's face. "How very interesting..."
"I said, step. away. from her." X growled, taking another step forward. "Or so help me: I will put. you. down."
"X! Calm down!" Rogue exclaimed.
"X?" Havok asked, glancing at Magneto.
"I suppose you heal at an accelerated rate." Magneto asked.
"That is none of your concern!" X exclaimed.
"How d' you know 'bout that?" Rogue replied.
Magneto turned back to Rogue. "I can answer that and so many more questions if you come with me, Rogue."
"Come where?" Rogue asked breathlessly.
"Come with me." Magneto begged. "Join me to fight the humans, to protect mutants, to protect you and your friend here." He turned to X-23. "You have memory lapses from your past?"
X snarled like a wild animal.
"I can restore them."
X stood up straight and blinked blankly. He could retrieve her memories? She had never thought about recovering her memories, assuming they were gone and there was no way to get them back; that she should get over it.
Magneto turned back to Rogue. "How are your new employers treating you?" he asked, gesturing at her shoulder plate.
Rogue looked at it and then back at him."Not as good as you."
Magneto smiled and extended his hand. "Then join me, Rogue. We can be together again."
Rogue looked at it and started to extend hers when she stopped."Wait, what did ya mean by fight the humans?" she asked.
"There can only be one dominant species, Rogue. You know that."
"So what do you propose?" Rogue demanded, suddenly hostile. "Wipe 'em out? Genocide?"
"Genocide is a terrible word used when a type of people are being exterminated for being different, similar to us mutants. Destroying the human race is the next step up in evolution." Magneto attempted to explain.
"No," Rogue said, dropping her hand. "No, I'm sorry, Erik. I can't do that!"
Erik sighed, genuinely disappointed. "Very well," he replied. He leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to Rogue's cheek. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back slightly until he pulled away.
At the sight of this, X re-extended her claws (having retracted them at Erik's comment about her memories) and growled.
"But you call me Magneto now." Erik replied. He turned to Havok. "Incapacitate them, but do not kill them. And don't hurt Rogue too badly."
"Erik!" Rogue exclaimed.
Magneto turned and smiled affectionately. "Try not to fight too much Rogue, I really don't want you hurt."
With that final comment, Magneto trailed into the woods, Lorna and Pyro at his side. Rogue shouted his name a few more times before finally giving up.
"Well, the boss seems to still like you, Rogue." Havok said, rubbing his hands together. "So I'm not going to hurt you too bad, but her..." he turned with a sly grin to X-23. "She can take a beating."
"Alex! Don't do this!" Rogue exclaimed. "You don't know hat it is yo'r dealin' with!"
"Sure I do," Havok said.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
November 22, 09:48 EST
Wolverine walked onto the bridge of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-Carrier. It was morning above the ocean, the sun peeking over the horizon. Logan grinned, feeling the heat through the glass. He took a long, deep drink from his coffee and sighed. Things were looking good so far today. If things persisted in this manner, he might even go visit Charles and see how the X-Men where doing.
"Logan!" Fury called.
Logan turned, taking another sip of his coffee. Fury was standing at the door of the bridge. As soon as Logan looked at him, he knew something was wrong. Fury grimaced and gestured for Logan to follow him. Logan set down his coffee cup and followed.
"What the hell do you mean it's still operational?" he growled.
"We found the program years ago. Their base is extensive. We figured it was better if we didn't tell you given how...touchy this project is to you." Fury replied calmly. He seemed very upset.
"But now that some mutant has escaped, now you tell me!" Logan yelled, slamming the table with his fist.
"Logan, surely you can understand why we didn't tell you..."
"That's not the problem here!" Logan replied. "The problem is it is still fucking operational!"
"Technically it's not." Fury replied, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. "We're searching the base for files, experiments, survivors...but it's massive. It's taking a while."
Logan growled. "Fine." he spat. "Give me a task force and we'll catch this mutant, but when I get back, Fury..."
Fury looked at him.
"You and I are gonna tango."
Fury nodded and Wolverine left.
Redacted Location
November 22, 09:49 EST
X snarled, crouching down like a cat getting ready to pounce.
"X! Wait!" Rogue shouted.
Havok fired a beam of energy from his chest, but X leapt over it and into a tree. She leapt at Havok again, but Rogue grabbed her shirt collar and yanked her out of the air as a beam of energy flew right where she had been.
"What the hell?" she demanded.
"I'm tryin' t' save ya life!" Rogue yelled. "He shoots beams uh pure energy from 'is chest!"
X growled. "Well what do you propose we do, then?"
The tree the two girls were hiding behind got blasted to splinters and Rogue yelped, ducking as splinters flew into her neck and back. She ran over behind another tree, cursing.
"Flank him." Rogue replied. "You keep 'is attenti'n an' I'll grab 'im from behind."
X nodded and the two girls ducked again as that tree disintegrated as well. Rogue looked up in horror as the upper half of the tree fell towards her. X tackled her to the side, letting the tree land in the dirt and blow up a pile of dust for them to hide behind.
Havok moved in closer, tilting his sunglasses down to check in the shade for the girls.
X leapt out of the leaves, swinging her claws wildly. Havok stumbled back, firing blindly, panicking. X growled and swiped, cutting his arm and kicking him backwards. Havok fell down in the dirt, his sunglasses coming completely off. X yelled and leapt, legs curled up and arms extended, like a cat leaping on prey.
Havok fired a single blast, hitting X in mid-air. She yelped like a wounded animal and was thrown backwards into a tree. She slid down the trunk and fell unconscious.
Havok approached her, grinning in triumph. X looked up at him with a clever smile, realigned the vertebrae in her neck with a loud series of 'pops', and winked.
Havok turned around. The last thing he saw was Rogue's hand extending towards his face.
"Good work." X said, standing up and handcuffing the mutant. "I will alert the Sentinel Project to Havok and have him detained."
Rogue nodded and clutched her head.
"Are you okay?" X asked, concerned.
"It's nuthin'." Rogue said. "I just haven't used mah powers in battle recently. I ain't used t' it."
X nodded, finished handcuffing Havok, and stood up.
"How do you know these people?" she asked. "And what is the Xavier Institute they talked about?"
Rogue looked at her for a moment before sighing. "I'll tell you on the way."
Xavier Institute
November 22, 09:35 EST
"Okay, teams!" Scott exclaimed after their five minutes were up. "I hope you're all ready!"
Kitty and Bobby gave signs of agreement from their sides.
"Jean?" Scott asked the red-head.
Jean smiled, closed her eyes, and pressing two fingers to her temple, lifted fifty of each frisbee in the air before tossing them in multiple directions.
"Teams start in five...four...three...two...one...GO!"
Rahne and Kurt ran forward, Rahne shifting to her wolf form and Kurt teleporting, grabbing multiple frisbees at once. On the other team, Emma and Cannonball were running towards the green frisbees while Amara and Bobby fired beams of fire and ice from their hands at the yellow ones. Rahne picked up a frisbee with her mouth, running over to two more and morphing, picking them up with her hands before running back to the yellow base and dropping the frisbees, spitting discreetly on the ground before morphing to wolf form again and charging into the field.
Amara turned towards the yellow base and fired a beam of magma at them. Kitty grabbed the frisbees and phased, keeping them from being burnt.
"Danielle!" Kitty yelled.
Danielle closed her eyes. When she opened them a moment later, they were an extra-terrestrial grey. Cannonball picked up one frisbee and six more formed around him. All across the field, images of green frisbees popped up all over the ground.
"Good job," Kitty shouted. "Hold down the fort!"
Danielle nodded as Kitty charged into battle.
"Kurt! 'port me to Emma!"
The blue-furred mutant popped next to her, grabbed her, then teleported next to Emma. Kitty phased her hands through Emma's and grabbed all of the frisbees. Kurt teleported her back to the yellow base where Kitty jammed the frisbees into the concrete driveway.
Rahne ran up at that moment, dropping five more frisbees into the pile.
"I think where doin' mighteh fine!" she exclaimed breathlessly.
"You're doing great, Ronny!" Kitty exclaimed.
Kurt teleported next to Rahne. "We've got about thirty more out zer according to my calcoolations."
Rahne grinned and morphed back into her velvet-furred fox form and galloped back onto the field.
Redacted Location
November 22, 10:01 EST
"You have been quiet for the past five minutes!" X finally exclaimed.
"I'm thinkin'," Rogue replied.
"Just talk already!" X exclaimed.
Rogue sighed. "Whatever I tell ya, ya can't tell anyone at the Sentinel Project."
X raised an eyebrow, remaining silent, but gestured for Rogue to go on.
Rogue sighed, looking at her feet and the fall leaves beneath them before responding.
"There's a place called the Xavier Institute. It's a school for mutants. This place...they've got Omega-Level mutants as teachers. They've got other mutants that have crazeh abilities roaming the halls. The two most powerful mutants I've ever seen run the school: Professor X and Erik...Magneto."
"Surely they have safeguards in place to have that many mutants with that much power in one place." X said. "Mind control? Tracking devices?"
Rogue just stared at her for a moment. "This is a school, X." she replied. "Nothing controls the students. Xavier recruits them, teaches 'em how to use their pow'rs, then they either join the X-Men or go solo."
X shook her head, astonished. "What about this Erik guy?" she asked. "Who is he and why did you let him touch you like that?"
Rogue's eyes widened slightly in fear and she stiffened. She kept walking.
"Rogue," X warned.
"I discovered I was breakin' out 'bout three years ago. The first time I used my powers was on accident, when I was kissin' m' boyfriend Cody. He was a nice kid, football player, seemed really decent. When I kissed 'im for the first time though..." Rogue took a deep breath. "He was in a coma for three months."
"I was scared. My daddeh kicked meh out, despite what my momma wanted. She begged him, an' I mean begged 'im tuh lemme stay, but he said "No! I ain't gonna have a freak daughta, get her outta my sight!"." Rogue smiled sadly. "My momma took meh to town, asked Ms. Adler tuh look aftuh me fir a li'l while. She agreed. I almost put her in a coma too, dough, so I ran away."
Rogue smiled sadly again. "There wa'n't nobody out lookin' fir me. I'd practically lived in duh woods my whole life, I knew how t' survive. Thats when the Professor found meh. He calmed me down and took me to the Xavier Institute. He and Erik taught meh to control m' powers."
"I am still confused." X said. "Why did you let Magneto touch you like that?"
Rogue frowned. "At the Institute, Erik and I...had a...we..."
X looked at her expectantly. "You what?"
Rogue sighed.
Two Years Earlier
Rogue's eyes fluttered open. The warm sunlight that was coming through the open window fell across her bare skin, warming it. She smiled and closed her eyes again, turning to face it, letting the warm rays filter across her face and chest. It was like she was back home again.
"Good Morning, Rogue," Erik greeted, looking down at her with a smile.
Rogue returned the smile and laid her head on his chest. "Last night was spectacular." she whispered.
"Indeed it was." Erik replied, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
Rogue smirked and leaned up pressing her lips gently to his. "We need tuh do this ag'in sometime."
"Mmhmm" Erik replied, kissing her again. The kisses were short, but strong.
"Erik," Rogue asked as she kissed him yet again.
"Yes?" Another kiss.
"No one-else-can know-about-mmph!" Erik pulled Rogue into a stronger kiss, his tongue swiping against her lips.
"About this?" he asked, running his tongue over her teeth. "Or this?"
Erik flipped on top of Rogue and she arched as she felt him thrust into her beneath the sheets. She moaned loudly and arched her back, pressing her breasts into his chest. Erik thrust again, then again. He slowly found a pattern, leaving Rogue in a dizzying state of breathing and gasping. She continued to moan and groan beneath him, wrapping her arms tightly around her lover and holding on for dear life as he thrust faster and harder.
Sweat dripped off of Erik, falling onto Rogue and the bed. He breathed heavily. Rogue had kept her back arched and Erik slipped a supporting hand under it. She relaxed into it, their chests separating. Rogue's breasts swayed and moved beneath Erik in time with his thrusts. He looked at her face: eyes closed, biting down on her lip in an effort to keep quiet, her hair messy, a sign they had done this before. She leaned her head back and moaned.
She gasped something out, something over and over again that Erik didn't understand and didn't care to. Rogue cried out beneath him as she reached a climax; Erik joined her only a minute later and the two collapsed onto the bed, breathing deeply. Neither could speak, only look at one another. Rogue sighed contentedly and rolled over, laying her head on Erik's chest again.
"Oh my God!" X exclaimed. "Rogue!" Then again. "Oh my God!"
Rogue looked at her.
"You had a sexual relationship with him?"
"He was nice, and he helped meh t' control m' powers."
"I have never engaged in sexual reproduction before-"
"Sex." Rogue interrupted. "Sex fir fun."
"With a seventy year-old man?"
"Sixty!" Rogue interrupted again. "An' I don't know what I was thinkin'."
"That does not surprise me."
There was silence. X could tell Rogue was ashamed of herself. X reached out to put a hand on her shoulder but pulled back sharply. The two walked in silence.
"Why did you leave the Institute?" X asked.
Rogue stiffened again. "I want'd t' see the world, live on m' own."
X had gotten very good at telling when Rogue was lying. When it was something big, Rogue would brush her white hair to both sides of her face at the same time, scratch her eye, and give a brief answer. Here she did all of this. X knew when to stop asking questions, though. This was one of those times.
Sentinel Project Main HQ
November 22, 10:12 EST
"Sir,"
"Yes, Ms. Oyama?" Trask asked.
"Sir, I just received information that S.H.I.E.L.D. has sent a task force to recover the mutant breakout we sent Rogue and X-23 after."
"So?" Trask asked tiredly. "The more the merrier."
"Wolverine is leading the task force."
Trask looked up, rather awake now. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir, Director Fury called personally to warn us. You remember our arrangement with S.H.I.E.L.D., sir? We are allowed to use X-23 as long as Wolverine does not become aware of her existence. They would most assuredly cross paths while on this mission."
Trask sighed, putting his head in his hands and running his fingers through his short, black hair.
"Can we send someone to replace X-23?" he asked.
"No, sir. This is in Canada. It would take an hour for a soldier to reach the area and by then it would be too late."
Trask sighed. "Call them back, Miss Oyama. Let's hope S.H.I.E.L.D. can get this mutant for us."
"Yes, sir." Oyama replied leaving the room.
The two girls had been walking in silence for several minutes now. Rogue seemed ashamed, depressed, reflective. X was sorry she had pushed Rogue into talking about her past. She could tell the red-head was hurt inside. X sighed and grabbed Rogue's arm with a sisterly love.
"I am sorry," she said.
Rogue looked at her in surprise. "Fir what?" she asked.
"For pushing you to talk about your past. It was rude and inconsiderate of me. Had you wanted me to know about you before the Sentinel Project, you would have told me. I am sorry." X replied.
Rogue looked at her in slight shock for a moment before smiling and pulling the brunette close to her.
"It's fine, X." she said. "You had a right t' know."
X's comm beeped and she broke away from Rogue, pulling out her communication device.
"X-23," she identified herself, brushing a strand of brown hair behind her ear.
"X-23 and Agent Rogue, report back to the Sentinel Project at once."
"We are on mission looking for a mutant criminal. This mission was assigned to us by Secretary of Defense Bolivar Trask. On who's orders are you ordering us back to Headquarters?"
"Secretary of Defense Bolivar Trask." the voice replied. "Do not report back, proceed at once to the Sentinel Project for debriefing."
A helicopter flew overhead. Rogue recognized the logo. She poked X and pointed to it.
"HQ, a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicopter has just entered the airspace." X reported.
"We're aware of that, X-23. Report to base immediately."
"Affirmative." X replied. She shut off her comm device and turned to Rogue. "We should head back."
"Don't ya wanna know why they're callin' us back?" she asked.
"Rogue, you are already in enough trouble with Secretary Trask. I suggest you forget the idea and come with me."
Rogue looked at her for a moment before sighing, nodding, and following X.
"What's taking Al-Havok so long?" Lorna asked. "Shouldn't he be back by now?"
"Lorna, do not worry." Erik replied.
"Yeah, Bazooka-Boy can take care o'imself!" Pyro exclaimed.
"But what if-"
"Lorna!"
The green-haired mutant looked at the ground quietly.
A snake slithered in the grass in front of the trio. It turned and looked at them. Then it stood up on its tail and rose itself higher and higher. The scales turned blue and fleshy. It grew arms, legs, and its head became more defined. It morphed into a naked woman with blue skin, yellow animal-like eyes, and red, pasty hair.
"Erik," she greeted.
"Raven," he replied. "It has been...nearly thirty years!"
"Thirty years?" she asked. "I have been imprisoned far longer than I originally thought."
"What's the last thing you remember?"
Before Mystique could answer, the bushes shook and Wolverine emerged. Upon spotting the mutants, he growled and extended his claws.
"Magneto." he growled.
Erik smirked. "Wolverine."
"What the hell are you doin' here?"
"Rescuing an old friend. What about you?"
"Bringing in an assassin."
Erik smirked. "Logan, as powerful as you are, you're outnumbered four to one, and I can control your adamantium skeleton. You lose."
Wolverine smirked and snapped his fingers. S.H.I.E.L.D. Soldiers crawled out of the bushes around the mutants, trapping them.
"You so much as make me wink and they'll blow your brains out."
Xavier Institute
November 22, 09:57 EST
Bobby practically growled in frustration.
"Guys! We're getting our asses handed to us out here!" He exclaimed.
"Why don't you stop yelling at our team and start shooting at their frisbees?" Amara and Cannonball demanded at the same time.
Bobby frowned and shot a beam of ice at Rahne, knocking the frisbees out of her mouth and causing her to stumble and fall snout-first into the grass. She growled and stood up, baring her fangs before running straight at Bobby, leaping, and tearing a frisbee right out of the air, running back to her base.
"Thanks a lot, Bobby!" Amara exclaimed, throwing fireballs at Kitty who merely dodged them or phased through them.
"You're not doing too hot yourself!" Bobby exclaimed.
"Are you trying to be funny?" Amara demanded. "Because I will burn you alive!"
At this, maybe to emphasize her point, but more likely due to her anger, Amara burst into flames, her body becoming engulfed in the hot fire.
"Guys!" Scott called. "Yellow has ten frisbees left!"
"I can't even tell which ones are real!" Cannonball exclaimed. He looked over at Emma. "Mind giving me a hand?"
"Don't look at me!" she exclaimed. "I can't help you any!"
Rahne galloped up, leapt onto her chest and tackled her to the ground. The wolf snatched the frisbees out of Emma's hands and ripped them apart with her teeth. Emma frowned and ran off to find more frisbees.
"This is close!" Scott exclaimed. "Each team only needs three more!"
Rahne galloped around the field, grabbing one frisbee in a bush, another at the base of a tree. She turned to see the third frisbee lying in the field, hidden by tall grass. Bobby had seen it too, though, and was running toward it. Rahne heard Kitty, Danielle, and Kurt cheering her on. She galloped as quickly as she could towards the frisbee. She was almost there, but Bobby was almost there too, and he might get the frisbee first.
Taking a deep breath, Rahne jumped, morphing into her werewolf form and diving on the frisbee. Bobby, who was already going too fast, too close, landed on her, raising a yelp of pain from the Scot and sliding a few feet in the grass.
Rahne stood up and growled at him...but it wasn't Rahne. It was something else. The were-wolf was taller than Rahne, about six and a half feet tall. It was a velvety-red, just like Rahne's true wolf form. It looked very humanoid, but with a wolf's face, ears, eyes, snout, and legs. It did have a tail, long and fluffy like Rahne's tail. This beast though...it was much more violent, it's yellow-black eyes glinting with an in-human glee.
"Guys?" Bobby asked. "Guys this isn't funny!"
"Rahne! Calm down!" Xavier shouted. "It was an accident!"
"Professor," Jean whispered. "She's very unstable in this form."
Rahne swatted her paw at Bobby who held up an ice shield in defense. He screamed and continued backing up.
"Jean, try and get through to her!" Charles ordered.
Jean nodded and closed her eyes, trying to find Rahne's mind.
"I can't Professor!" she exclaimed. "It's like her mind isn't human! I can't communicate with animals!"
"I can!" Danielle said, running up. "Give me a sec, Jean, I'll try and calm her down."
Rahne had decimated Bobby's ice shield and had her paw up to deliver the final blow when she paused, sniffing the air. She turned to the teachers and growled.
"Danielle!" Scott warned.
"Shut up." she whispered through clenched teeth.
Rahne started towards the teachers.
"Danielle! We want her calm!" Scott exclaimed again.
"Shut up, Summers!" Danielle growled. Her eyes were glowing a light blue and she was sweating. Blood started trickling out of her nose.
Rahne had made it halfway across the field when she stopped. She looked at Danielle before morphing into her human form. She looked at Bobby and the rest of the students.
"I'm sorey!" She exclaimed. "I'm so sorey!" With that, she ran towards the house in human form.
"Rahne! Rahne wait!" Charles exclaimed, wheeling after her.
Awkward silence was left behind.
"Uhh...pick up the mess." Scott suggested.
Redacted Location
November 22, 10:19 EST
The tension in the forest was so thick, one could cut it with a knife. Lorna, Pyro, Magneto, and Mystique all stood back-to-back, surrounded by S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers, at least two dozen, who had assault rifles pointed at their chests. Logan stood off to the side, smirking.
"Pyro and Lorna, take the soldiers. Mystique, my love, take Wolverine. I'll grab our ride." Magneto whispered.
"Ten seconds to surrender, Magneto." Wolverine said.
Pyro raised his hands and walked out of the circle.
"Cuff 'im!" a soldier ordered. Two more started forward.
"Wait!" Logan exclaimed.
Pyro grinned and lit his hands on fire, spraying it at the soldiers who yelled and screamed.
"Open Fire!"
Bullets flew at the mutants. Lorna raised her hands and the bullets stopped two feet from the mutants. She closed her eyes, her green hair lifting itself in a non-existent wind. Mystique smirked and ran from the protective bubble at Wolverine while Pyro threw flames at the soldiers, laughing in glee.
Lorna was wearing green, tight leather pants with silver knee-high boots and belt. She was wearing a silver sports bra and a very loose see-through green shirt over it. The sleeves were slit along the inside of her forearm, flapping around in the wind she was producing. Silver bracelets decorated her elbows and a collar of the same metal hung from her neck. Her green hair was kept back by a silver headband that framed her forehead and cheeks. Her green hair was long and in messy curls, but lifted around her round face. Her lips and eyeshadow were the same green as her uniform. She was beautiful indeed, beautiful and dangerous.
Mystique charged at Wolverine, leaping into the air and wrapping her legs around his face, twirling, and snapping his neck. Logan stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Thank you," Mystique said sexily, squatting next to his body. "It's been so long since I killed someone. Too bad you weren't a real challenge..."
Logan grabbed her throat and extended his claws.
"Here's a challenge for ya, lady!" he growled, realigning his vertebrae and standing up. She smiled and kicked out of his grip, flipping backwards and landing on her feet in a fighting stance.
The two stood, eyeing each other for a minute before Mystique charged Logan, running up, jumping, knocking his head back, and turning mid-air to bounce off of a tree and slam into him from behind, tackling him to the ground. He growled and rolled over, slamming his fist into her stomach, throwing her off of him.
Logan jumped up and would've run at Mystique had his body not started shaking. Mystique smirked. Logan looked at the circle where the other mutants were.
The weapons in the soldiers hands had begun to shake. Lorna's eyes turned a supernatural green. She yelled and everything metal, including Wolverine, was pulled toward the middle of the group before being thrown violently outwards. At that time, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicopter flew itself into the clearing and landed.
"Our ride is here." Magneto said with a smile.
"Wait, what about Alex?" Lorna asked.
"If he has defeated Rogue and her partner, then he will make his way back to us. If not, we won't abandon him for long..."
Sentinel Project Main HQ
November 22, 10:57 EST
Trask's office was it's normal gray self. Only its occupant looked different. Trask was tired and stressed. Rogue could see the make-up under his eyes (which she thought spoke great measures about his masculinity), the tensity in his shoulders, the look in his eyes, and his posture. While he tried to sit up straight, back rigid, very militaristic, he couldn't quite make it. Rogue took a small piece of satisfaction from this. She hated the man.
Rogue and X-23 hadn't had time to change from their uniforms, but they had managed to become slightly more comfortable on the trip to Trask's office. X had completely unzipped her jacket and tugged her tank-top out of her pants where it had been tucked in. Rogue had taken off her breastplate and tossed it in her room, unzipping her form-fitting uniform just enough.
"Captured a mutant, just not the one we wanted." Trask noted, reading the file X had written on the flight back.
"You pulled us out 'fore we could even lay eyes on 'er." Rogue pointed out.
Trask frowned at her. "I'd watch my step if I were you, Agent Rogue."
Rogue scowled and opened her mouth to spit out something, but X swooped in and prevented her from doing something stupid.
"What about the terrorist mutant, sir?" X asked.
"Terrorist?" Rogue asked. "Since when was everyone labeled "terrorist"?"
"Since 9/11." Trask replied. "If you act against America's interests, you're a terrorist, whether you're instilling terror or not. Now, Agent Rogue, if you don't mind, we have actual work to do other than answer questions for five year olds."
Rogue was getting pissed off.
"Sir?" X prompted.
"Alex Summers," Trask replied, reading off of the file. "Will be detained and interrogated about the other mutants he was with." Trask closed the file. "What I am more interested in is how he and these other mutants never appeared on our radar. Where do they hide that we can't see them? Who are they?"
The two girls remained silent.
"What do you think, X-23?" Trask asked.
"Sir?" X asked, taken off guard.
"Where do you think these mutants are hiding? Who are they?"
X glanced at Rogue who was trying to communicate subtly "No! Don't tell them!"
X took a slightly deeper breath than required before talking, choosing her words carefully. "Perhaps they are a group of mutants who take in other mutants and train them. Perhaps with fighting skills, perhaps to hone and improve their abilities."
"Well if mutants are collecting in one spot, how come we've never heard of them? Where would they stay?"
Rogue was staring a hole into X's brain, as if she could implant the idea of not telling Trask.
"Perhaps...they existed before the Sentinel Project, say...the 1970s or 80s? This would give them time to grow ranks, work on anonymity, and keep themselves hidden. They would need quite a budget to keep such a facility running and some powerful mutants to eliminate any threats to their facility. Crowd control would be extremely hard and tasking, though." she replied. Rogue could've strangled her.
"Where would they keep a facility like that?" Trask asked with the touch of a clever smile on his face that worried Rogue. She could've sworn that he glanced at her quickly as he asked the question.
X thought. She didn't turn to look at Rogue. She kept her eyes, face, and body facing straight forward. Her posture remained militaristic and straight. With a straight and even voice she suggested the North Pole, maybe upper Russia; somewhere overseas would be preferable, where the United States could not act against them.
Rogue could've passed out she was so relieved. She realized her posture had become tense and she had started sweating.
"Very good, X-23." Trask said. "We do believe there is a mutant base in the Arctic Circle, but since Russia has laid claim to that hunk of ice, we can't act. Dismissed."
The two girls started to file out. Trask called Rogue back in.
"There's a file waiting on your desk for you." he said. "Make sure the job gets done or more than your job is in danger. We took you in, we protected you, and we can certainly throw you back out if we don't feel we're getting our payment."
Rogue nodded short and stiff before joining X in the hall.
"Thanks for not tellin' 'em 'bout the Institute." Rogue said.
"You are welcome." X replied. "I do not understand why you do not trust Secretary Trask, however."
"Do you even know what trust is?" Rogue asked, opening the door to the girls' shared room.
"It is relying on someone not to betray you, relying on someone to complete the mission at all costs, someone-"
"No." Rogue said. "Trust is a very special thang. It's somethin' you only give out t' a few people, a few you can really trust."
"Then how are you supposed to complete missions?" X asked.
"Those're the type uh people ya rely on." Rogue replied. "Trustin' someone means that you have absolute faith in them. If you trust someone, then you put more than yo'r life in their hands; you put yo'r beliefs, yo'r love, yo'r family, yo'r soul, and everythang you'll ever care about in their hands. Trust is a very hard thang t' earn and it ain't something people hand out easily." Rogue paused and added quietly. "Shouldn't..."
"You do not trust these people?" she asked.
"Uh course not!"
"Why not?"
"Somethin' you learn very quick in the real world, X, the government, the police, anybody who works for the government, you can't trust 'em."
"Why not?"
"Do ya know how I came t' work here?"
"No, I assumed it was because you wanted to help serve the government and defend the defenseless. Just as a police officer would."
Rogue laughed. She literally laughed.
"I'm sorreh." She said. "It's just-X, eighty percent of the cops who sign up are in it t' be corrupt; t' shake down drug dealers, blackmail old women, an' make moneh. Fifteen percent because something awful happened to 'em or their family. Only five percent join to help people, and they're corrupted by the corrupt. That's how the system works. No one from the government can be trusted." Rogue looked at the package on her desk and picked it up. "Case in point: I was blackmailed into working for the Project. I didn't sign up. I was starving, and in desperation I stole some bread. The Project blackmailed meh into working for 'em."
"They threatened to turn you in for petty theft?" X asked, confused.
"No, they turned me in fir that, got my DNA, fingerprints, everythang they needed, and committed a few murders in m' name; they left m' DNA and fingerprints behind. If I don't do as they say, they'll turn me in as a serial murderer and give me a background of mental instabiliteh so that anythang I say will be ignored."
X looked at her in horror. "I can not believe they would do something like that simply to get you to work for them."
"I was too young t' have done anythang stupid yet." Rogue said. Her eyes widened when she looked inside the package.
"What is it?" X asked.
"Abduction." Rogue said. "Somethin' here 'bout arms dealin'. I think they make these thangs confusin' on purpose."
"Do you trust me?" X asked suddenly.
"Yeah, t' a degree." Rogue replied absentmindedly, reading the document. She could tell by the silence she'd said something stupid. She looked up over the manilla pages at X who seemed rather upset. Rogue tried to remember what she had said.
"Why do you not trust me fully?" X asked.
"I trust ya, X. It's the brainwashin' they do t' ya. I trust you fully, it's just you have the tendency t' think yo're always right and that if you tell Trask somethin' it'll help the greater good." Rogue sat on her bed and moved the file to her side. "Here's the thang, honey, the "greater good" is code for "you as an individual don't matter, it's about everyone and what the government wants." Rogue made a disgusted face at "everyone".
X had no emotion on her face. She wasn't sure how to process what Rogue had said.
"Well I'm hittin' the showers. I'll be back in a long while." Rogue broke the silence.
X sat at her desk contemplating.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
November 22, 11:23 EST
Logan walked onto the bridge of the Helicarrier and up to Fury who was talking to a tech officer. Fury waved the officer away when he saw Logan walk up.
"How'd it go?" he asked, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and letting out a long puff of smoke.
"Like crap." Logan replied. "Magneto and his goons got away with Mystique. And they took the helicopter."
"But he didn't keep it is my guess." Fury replied.
"You're forgetting he knew me before going all evil-mutant on the world. He's smart enough to drop it."
"Well, I'll send a team anyway to pick it up and go over it." Fury said. "And Logan? I'm sorry for not telling you about Weapon X, but some things are best kept secret."
"And some things-" Logan added, getting uncomfortably close to Fury. "Need to be shared before it destroys us all."
Fury nodded, unphased by Logan.
Logan nodded in return and left the bridge.
Fury ordered a tablet and pulled up a communication line with Bolivar Trask.
"Did they make contact?"
Silence.
"No."
Fury wiped the tablet and smashed its processor in his fist.
Xavier Institute
November 22, 10:06 EST
Charles knocked gently on the door to Rahne's room. Her door was an old, worn maple that, strangely enough, smelled like pine trees and the forest. It fit her quite well, one of the reasons she had chosen the room.
Soft crying came from inside.
"Rahne, it's Professor Xavier, can I come in?"
Rahne mumbled something and Charles wheeled in, closing the door behind him.
Rahne was on her bed in wolf form, curled into a ball. The room was simple with simple furniture. Rahne's bed was made of a reddish wood and covered with velvety green sheets, the same color she seemed to favor for her clothes. She had a simple rug on the right side of her bed, green and white in rectangular circles, and a simple wooden chest at the end of her bed. She had a cabinet across the room made of the same wood as everything else where she kept her clothes. Other than a desk and armchair, the room was bare and empty. Far too empty for Rahne.
She lifted her head off of her paws as Charles approached and sat up, morphing into human form, her legs hanging off the edge of her bed. Charles wheeled over to her and brushed a tear falling from her eye.
"Is Bobby okay?" she asked.
"Yes, he's fine. He has a fear of dogs. It's nothing to be concerned about." Charles said with a smile.
"But I attack'd 'im!" Rahne exclaimed, her shaky voice ringing around the empty room. "I lost contro' o'er my abilities, an', an' I coulda hurt 'im!"
"Rahne, what happened to you today is normal." Charles said. "Everyone loses control of their abilities at first."
Rahne looked at him, still sniffling.
"Before Jean came to the Institute, she would levitate every car on her street just by being in the area. Scott blew the roof off of a building accidentally. Magma had issues controlling herself when she switched to her molten form only a month ago, now look how in control she is. It just takes time."
Rahne looked at her hands, folded neatly in her lap.
"Is this mutation changin' me professor?" she asked.
"What do you mean, Rahne?"
"Before all of this here happ'n'd t' me, I would ne'er have lashed out like I did today. I probably wouldn'tuh done anything! Am I losing my goodness by turning into this monster?" At this, Rahne looked at her shaking hands.
"Rahne, I want you to listen to me very carefully." Charles said, grabbing her hands with his. "You are not a monster. You are a person. God gave you these abilities for a specific reason. You are striving to be Christ-like, but like all things, it is difficult. You will be tempted, just as He was. You will face challenges and obstacles you do not want to face, but you must power through them and keep fighting. For yourself, for your friends, for your father, and for Him, you must keep fighting."
Rahne smiled.
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X-Men: Standing Guard Returns in Two Weeks with a special two-part episode!
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**Rahne is pronounced "rain" in case you missed S1E04 "Thriller"