Warning: Talk of physical abuse, some power-enhanced abuse, some deliberate. There may also be trigger warnings to other abuse but it's more to do with the character's attitude/ personality.
This chapter is more of a filler chapter as some of the puzzle pieces are brought together.
The Professor and Storm arrived at the park bench less than half-an-hour after Sabertooth grabbed Rogue, on Magneto's orders. In the time that followed, Logan experienced uncontrollable rage after an incident was reported in the Canadian Rockees. He travelled there in an attempt to find out what the mystery was and what part of his life had taken him there. Kurt and Kitty had accidentally accompanied him on his trip after a quest for privacy landed caused them to seek solace in the Blackbird. Kurt had been looking for her as the it was time to leave for school.
Logan discovered more than he could ever hope to or want to learn about his time there and when Sabertooth showed up and realisations were discovered, he found he had to fight hard to throw off the animal instincts that were as natural as breathing to him. It took great effort but thanks to Charles Xavier's training and the faith Kitty had shown in him, he was able to fight the animal and allow his more human side to win.
After taking a few days off to recover, he began question Charles about Rogue.
"We have not been able to locate her. It's as though she's disappeared."
"Someone has to know something."
"I agree. I have studied Cerebro repeatedly but unless she uses her powers, we must assume that she simply hasn't had cause to."
Logan knew better. "Or someone's stopping her."
XxX
When Rogue woke, she found herself in a small, damp and dingy basement. The only window in the room was high above any leverage she had to look out of. Even if there had been furniture.
She ran to the door hoping and praying that someone had been thoughtless, but of cause, the door was locked.
Her bed was a pitiful fold-away creation with a pathetic mattress and a thin duvet. Clearly, she wasn't worth the budget for something more substantial.
She sat back on the bed, trying to ignore to cold and was about to drop off once more when the door crashed open.
The Sabertooth Lion had returned.
"The Boss wants a word."
She didn't move and within two steps, she was dragged off the bed with an unnatural force. She screamed out but the man held little pity, only irritation that his errand was taking longer. He grabbed the other arm and dragged her to Magneto's office.
Rogue had passed out by the time the reached the office and Magneto, who had trained as a Doctor in his youth, was forced to re-connect the dislocated shoulder. He had Sabertooth hold her down whilst he completed the procedure and when she woke briefly, to vomit before blacking out, he had Sabertooth clean up the mess, seeing as this was all his fault. Now the girl would have to be out of action whilst she recovered, setting his plans further behind.
XxX
For his second attempt at a consultation, John, also known as Pyro, was sent to collect her. Pyro was the second latest addition to Magneto's team of Acolytes. Originally from Australia, Pyro had a penchant for fire. He was a self-confident, laid back kind of guy, with a fondness for pranks. Sabertooth hated him and when he passed on the message that he was to collect the girl, he neglected to warn him about her special skin.
Being a decent-ish guy, he gave the door a knock. When there was no reply, he opened the door to find her sleeping. If it hadn't been for Magneto's insistence, he would have left the girl alone, but his relatively short time there was enough for him to know that his boss wasn't a patient man. He moved closer to the bed, not bothering about being quiet and spoke clearly. "Hey girlie, Boss-man wants you."
She remained still, in her sleep. It had been less than a week into her recovery and the drugs Magneto had her on were strong. In the mean time, she had been unable to take the anxiety medication she had been prescribed with, making her stay even more intolerable.
He placed his hand on uninjured arm, giving it a shake, but she only turned on the side facing him. Her lips parted softly, as though she was in a dream, expecting to be kissed. John had never been one to deny a girl anything, so he lowered himself to his knees, inched closer to the bed and touched his lips to hers...
Now Rogue had been dreaming. It was after her mother had died but before Carole had been comatose. She and Cody were at the flat, he was laying back on the sofa, whilst she was pressed against him, their hands wondering, when he started pressing kisses on her face. These were teasing kisses, deliberately avoiding her mouth. Despite her best efforts and powers of persuasion, Cody just wouldn't kiss her lips. She inched herself onto her side, coyly cutting him off, when someone else invaded her dream. His lips pressed hers, jolting her back into the dingy room, to see the guy collapse backwards.
'Not again!' was her first thought, before she felt a strange heat flow through her body, focusing on her hands. She ran from the room, her hands growing steadily hotter and simultaneous flames appeared, burning her hands, so she tried to shake them off first, then aimed them across the wall, to the sides, anywhere but near here. But as her panic grew, so did the fire. There was yelling as the flames took hold and people speaking in different language, making everything more confusing and frightening. The panic was settling as the flames danced, blocking her off from everyone else and it wasn't until something struck her from behind, that the flames shrank into mere embers, leaving the location in ruins and herself unconscious.
XxX
Magneto had grown frustrated at the delay, but when the smell of smoke hit him, he collected his hypodermic needles, rushed out and using his magnetism, sedated the girl who was proving more trouble than she was worth.
He ordered his third-latest acquisition, a man called Piotr Rasputin to bring her, once again to his office to receive treatment.
He knew it would only be a matter of time before Charles came knocking on his door, demanding answers and half of him was ready to give her to him. However, he had always been a cautious man and instead, dispatched her to an alternative location, where she would be less able to cause damage...
XxX
Logan scoured the warehouse ahead of the others but it was all too clear that once again, they had been too late.
"What do you think happened here?"
"I'd say Rogue came into contact with a pyromaniac or..."
They had reached the room Rogue had been using and heard movement from inside. As Scott was nearest the door, he opened it quietly, before Logan practically pounced on the individual who was slowly coming around.
John had barely enough time to speak before being dragged up onto his feet and held off the ground by the gruff Canadian.
"What the hell?"
"Mind explaining what you're doing in here?"
John was still adjusting from his recent brush with the girl and did not have full ownership of his wits.
"Cor, that girl's a real fire-cracker."
Logan was already on edge and didn't need creeps perving on the girl he viewed as a surrogate daughter. John felt his back crash against the wall as Logan ignored the other's pleas for him to calm down.
"You were saying?"
"All I knows is Boss-man wanted a word and good old Sabertooth forgot to mention she was off limits. I can't be blamed if the girl's a deep sleeper. Most girls don't mind a little liplock as a wake-up call..."
Logan took great pleasure dumping him firmly on his arse.
As John got to his feet, he followed them out of the room, taking in the fire damage. "The girl's a natural."
The Professor took in the sight with disdain.
"It was ages before I got this good."
"Tell me something, do you think that your ability to control your powers can be hampered by your present mental state?"
"Sure, the more connected you are, the better you can control the fire. Scares the hell out of you the first time." He looked at the people giving him disparaging looks, but the true meaning escaped him.
Charles took in what John had told him and felt his concerns were justified.
Logan had remained in the room, taking in the scarseness of her possessions. "Where's all her stuff?"
"I don't know. Where was she before?"
Logan didn't answer, instead started gathering her belongings. He'd made the decision off his own back but the others helped. Later, Kitty and Kurt were dispatched to the Brotherhood to gather the rest of her things. Lance had been hovering outside the room, hoping to catch a few words with Kitty.
"You guys did well not to muck anything up."
Lance shrugged. "Boss's orders. With Mystique gone, Magneto's taken over."
"Oh, how's that going for you?"
"He doesn't come here. He gives orders through Pietro though. It's put him on a real power-trip."
The heard the voice from the kitchen.
"Blob, I told you, I wanted a blue cheese bagel, not a mouldy bagel."
"Well, that's all we got."
"How do you ever hope that my father will have you on his team if you don't even respect the place you live or yourself?"
"Well it's not my job to cook and buy groceries..."
Kitty turned to Lance. "Are they always like that?"
"All the time."
Kurt poked his head around the door, interrupting the moment. "This is the last one. I'll see you at the car."
The hallway was full of sulphur when he teleported.
"Are you sure you don't have a clue where she is?"
"Look, I'd tell you if I could. But from what Pietro says, Magneto has a lot of secrets and he's quick to take offence. Pietro hardly saw him growing up."
Kitty sighed before saying good-bye and leaving.
XxX
While Logan had stayed on at the warehouse for any indication as to the girl's whereabouts, the Professor had agreed for Rogue's belongings to be stored at the mansion. Kitty and Kurt were occupied carrying a box labelled 'photographs' to the designated room.. Kitty had begun to phase through the wall, unbeknownst to Kurt and he had dropped his end of the box, sending the contents flying. The Professor had heard the commotion and had come out to see the mess and scramble. Kurt was holding a photo of a child that was obviously a much younger Rogue, standing next to a woman, who was vaguely familiar to him.
"Do you think that's her mother?"
Kitty came to join them. "She's really pretty."
Charles Xavier felt a great sensation of awareness as he returned to his office. He remained there the rest of the day, unable to concentrate on anything in particular. When Logan returned, he quizzed him on how he knew the mother.
"You know this Charles." His voice was irritable, having wasted a day on patrol.
"Yes I know, but I wanted you to run through it once more."
"Why?"
Charles took a moment to answer, knowing it would not be well received. "I believe I knew her."
Logan stilled and took a careful pause, holding of the anger and frustration. The man in front of him had provided a great source of comfort and friendship for many years. He was well-educated and known for his great kindness. However, all those qualities threated to fade into nothing on the base of this new information. His words were slow and dangerously soft. "You believe you knew her? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Charles knew the danger apparent, but was calm. He wouldn't let Logan's temper force him to reciprocate. Not now. "There was an incident, between my step-brother and I. He'd always been aggressive, when we were children he took an active dislike in me. His father sent him to Military school. He did well. Somehow the control needed in that lifestyle settled him. He worked his way through the ranks and was even dating someone. We had not spoken in years. I was speaking at a conference about genetics in the town he was currently based it. I didn't know it at the time. I met someone, an officer, several ranks his junior. We connected."
Logan gave a snort, knowing all too well what kind of 'connection' had happened.
Charles ignored the snort. "I found myself wanting to know more about her, spend time with her. But she was due to go on assignment and would be away several months. She admitted she was involved with someone, but it was complicated. We agreed, that if she came back, if we were ever going to be anything to each other, she would have to break things off."
"What happened? Did the guy find out?"
Charles shook his head. "Not until much later. She arrived back, safely and decided she had had enough of the Military life. She wanted to settle and find a home. She tried to break things off, but things became more severe. She had to get other people involved. It was around this time that my brother was becoming more hostile. Dangerous, even. I didn't make the connection until one night, she was supposed to meet me, we were going to be together..."
Logan didn't need the Professor's explanation anymore. He could see it all unfurling. "She didn't show."
Still, Charles continued, finding himself speaking automatically. The incident may have been almost twenty-years ago, but for all he felt, it could also have been as recent as yesterday. "No. My brother did. He had followed her one night, found out everything. He forced her to arrange a meeting. He had developed the armour and shield, my mind was my only weapon but I was powerless. He had years of anger and frustration fuelling his aggression. It was weeks before I woke from the coma, to find that my spine was broken and I would never again be able to move my legs. I had suffered some memory loss. In any case, I never had contact from her again and it was only just seeing the photo that I was able to remember her."
XxX
For the remainder of the night, the two men poured over everything Logan could remember about Rogue's mother. They tracked her work history, Rogue's school records, anything they could to give them the information they so sorely needed. Charles contacted his solicitors to help them in their search and they were able to locate a protection order and legal change of name.
It took time but the solicitors were soon able to locate the birth certificate, which listed Charles Xavier as the father of Aliyanna Charlotte DelaRouge.
XxX