Warning: Continuation of physical and mental abuse, reflections of the past and mental trauma. We're reaching a climax...
Rogue was having an awful time.
She was drifting in and out of consciousness, thanks to the most recent injury. Magneto had moved her across town to an institution. The staff were warned that she held a dangerous skin condition and that she was to be isolated from any other patients. But what Magneto didn't realise was that this was not the first time Rogue had been in an institution.
The Doctors had been warned not to engage in any discussion with her, nor were they to tell her of her location. It was a long process to recovery, made more painful by the silence and loneliness.
When she was allowed out of bed, the nurses often wheeled her outside while they were on breaks. It was bitter cold and whilst she was wrapped up, it didn't make things easier.
One night, when she found she couldn't sleep, suffering from the effects of the fire, which had only enhanced the slight fever she'd obtained sleeping in the dingy basement room, she found herself recalling a happier time in her childhood. This was before they'd met Logan and she was only an infant. She had come to notice that her eyes were not the same colour - one being a dull green and the other being a deep, sparkling blue. They were not a match for her mother's eye colour, and being a curious child, she had asked her mother about them.
Anna rarely spoke of her daughter's father. It was the worst point in her life. She had fallen completely in love with him, but when Cain revealed the truth, she had been too scared to seek out a relationship, for fear that Cain would never leave them alone. So she ran, landing a job in Florida, miles from the man who had caused her such grief and miles from the man who had shown her such compassion.
Finding out about the pregnancy felt too good to be true, for now she would have a piece of the man she loved. Maybe the baby would be a boy? She would raise him to be intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate, like his father. Or it could be a girl, a little darling who would bear her daddy's eyes with pride. 'Well', she thought to herself, as she studied her daughter, 'I guess I managed to get things half right.' From that day on, the child would know that she had her 'daddy's eye' and that she was special enough to have her own eye! A separate eye that was unique to everyone else. Anna hadn't meant to set her daughter apart from everyone else and she certainly had not been warned about her lovers 'special talents'. Perhaps, if she had, it would have made a difference. But she remained in ignorance and was left by herself to bring up their child.
However well meant Anna's actions were, they would form the core of her daughter's beliefs and regrettably form the baseline of problems that would follow her daughter through to adolescence. It began with her eye-colour. Back then, Rogue often wore her hair up but shortly after school started, she slowly kept her 'daddy's eye' covered by a fringe, as the names and insults began, taking away the innocent pleasures from childhood memories. She found it difficult to understand how a simple eye-colour could make her different from all the other children and could not understand why they took pleasure in hurting her. She did her best to show her mother that she was a strong girl and that she wasn't ashamed of the way she looked. But however hard she tried, there was always someone to knock her off course...
She was unaware that her pulse had slowed as her temperature soared to the tune of the machines bleeping, leaving the night team terrified that this particular patient would die in their care. They worked late into the night, not stopping until they were able to say, "She's stable." Relieved that this little incident would not have to be reported.
XxX
It was several days before Magneto sent someone to collect her. The nurses had had her ready to leave and were quite intimidated by the silent show of strength that arrived shortly after.
Rogue hadn't met this goon but she stayed silent, following him to the car. They arrived at an alternative warehouse and she was taken to another room, which was very similar to the one she had before, only it was on the same level and by no means damp.
"You stay here?"
She looked up to see him staring at her. She wasn't sure what he was asking, so she just stared back.
"I no lock door. You stay here?"
She found his broken-English enchanting and wondered briefly about the origin of his heavy accent. This time she nodded and he did so in return, leaving her to rest again, while he worked around the warehouse.
He was the only person she saw in the next few days. Each morning, he brought her breakfast, locking the door when he had to leave, in case Magneto came calling. Her days were arduous and often pain filled. She was sure someone medicated her at night, or perhaps drugged her food. Perhaps it was best. She had no concept of time passing and the limited time she was awake, she would start by forgetting where she was, becoming anxious, only to see the silent giant and find a vague sense of relief. He may be her jailer but he was the kindest man she knew and that meant more than anything. When she felt able, she came and watched him work, handing him the tools and teaching him the English names. She learned his name was Piotr Rasputin and that through a rough mix of Russian and English, she learned that he was working for Magneto on sufferance.
"Magneto offer money, but I say no. So he take family and offer less money. I say yes." She couldn't blame him for how his life had panned out and found those days very companiable.
Then, their happy idle was over as the rest of the team moved in. Sabertooth was back and ready to obtain revenge on Logan, his old acquaintance, via the young girl. His campaign was slow, beginning with insults, making things awkward for her. Piotr did his best to make sure she was by his side, subtly making a point without being outwardly defiant. John had been left at the other warehouse, seeing as he failed to follow orders. Magneto wanted him to earn back his place on the team and was setting him the task of repairing the fire damage.
As Rogue's wounds healed, slowly, Sabertooth's campaign began to increase. When she was alone in her room, she would listen to Piotr's radio. Most of the time it was tuned to Russian stations, but she was making passable progress. She assumed her own collection of music had been destroyed in the fire as there was a distinct lack of belongings. Magneto never informed her about the X-Men visit and she could never assume such an eventuality. Logan and the X-men were far from her thoughts as it was all she could do to focus on her own pain. At night, she continued to replay her mother's voicemail numerous times until she fell asleep.
When on one such day, she was listening to the radio, Sabertooth threw the door open, forcibly pulled the radio out of its socket and threw it against the wall, leaving the mess scattered on the floor. Rogue was wary, but more irritated on Piotr's behind. The man owned less than she did!
Somehow she garnered the courage to address Sabertooth's brutality and reckless regard for the belonging's of others. "You know that wasn't mahne! You owe Piotr a new radio."
He returned as quick as anything, pulling her up by the scruff of her neck. She tried to silence the wince of pain, but Sabertooth heard it all.
He roared in her face, sending spittle everywhere. "I owe him nothing!"
There was a shadow by the door as Piotr's voice was heard. "Let her go. She is child."
Sabertooth sneered but dropped her heavily, leaving the room. Piotr helped her up.
"Are you alright?" He asked, concern all over his face.
"Ah'm fayne. Sorry about your radio."
He shook his head. "You shouldn't bait him. He is bad man."
She laughed, bitterly. "That's the problem with people telling me I shouldn't do something. It only makes me want to do something more."
XxX
Things were quiet for a few days.
Charles Xavier's solicitors had provided the necessary paper-trail going from Rogue's illegal adoption and the subsequent bribery. Mississippi County had been charged with illegal activity, although he had been advised that there would probably be an out-of-court settlement to avoid scandal. In the meantime, the social worker had been suspended, pending investigation.
He had arranged a meeting with Magneto but the other man was not willing to give up, until Charles indicated he would leave the matter to his lawyers.
"Now Charles, we have known each other a long time, have we not?"
"Be that as it may, Rogue is my daughter and it's high time I assume responsibility."
Magneto shook his head, disparaging Charles' claims. "Are you so sure? What if this woman only put your name on the certificate because her other candidate wasn't available?"
Charles voice chilled immediately. Despite his friend not knowing the full details of his history with Anna, the insult stung. His voice hardened as he grew tired of the delays and games. The past few weeks had not been easy and he was desperate for resolution. "I will forget you said that and to put your mind at rest, I will have my lawyers request a DNA test, which will cancel this agreement you have in its entirety."
Magneto could not help but provoke his friend further. "And if the test proves she is not yours?"
"Then I will still pursue custody. There have been too many incidents, first while she was under Mystique's care and your own. I am confident that I have a good case against you."
He was almost to the door when he turned back to say, "We have known each other a long time. But don't let our friendship blind you into thinking I will not do everything in my power to assure her safety."
He left Magneto without another word.
XxX
It did not take overly long for Magneto to obtain the blood sample from Rogue, though he saw no reason to explain his actions. The sample was presented to Charles' lawyers, who forwarded it to their client. Hank had obtained a sample from Charles and was even now testing the compatibility.
All the instructors were present when Hank handed the results over to the Professor, who held the paper in both hands and said, "She is my daughter."
XxX
Her door was unlocked that morning and the warehouse was eerily quiet. She couldn't see Piotr and decided to stay in her room. Since being moved to Magneto, she had lost all sense of day and time. She didn't want to think about all the school she missed and whether she'd be able to catch-up. Would Magneto even let her go back to school? Right now, her injuries would raise questions and perhaps he was afraid that people would ask questions? Was that why he hid her here? She felt all jittery inside and tried listening to music on her phone, but nothing settled her as much as her mother's voice recording.
She didn't realise Sabertooth had returned, irritable from lack of activity and bored from too many days without definitive action. This was when he was in his most dangerous mood and right now, the Colossus was out of the way, on a job for the Boss, leaving the little girl all alone. Magneto had been in a foul mood the last few days and Sabertooth had the sense that Rogue was at the heart of things. Sabertooth had never been a patient man and he resented all the fuss and bother the girl's presence was creating. But Magneto was insistent that the girl was important and would play a great part in the Mutant Agenda that was even now being discussed at political meetings.
Still, the beast was looking forward to the day he could wrap the girl in heavy chains and through her into the river, before watching as she drowned. It amused him to think of the best ways to destroy her. Forcing Wolverine to watch was always a criteria...
He moved across the hall, standing outside the door to hear that damn voice recording. Surely the girl knew it off by heart? He open the door and stalked inside, getting closer without being detected until the phone was in reach...
Rogue saw the hand clutch her phone and looked up at her enemy.
"You know, I'm sick to death of listening to this."
She saw the great fingers close over it, whilst she reached out her gloved hands for his arm, only for the crushing sound to fill the void. She saw his sneer of victory, hated the pure delight that flared in his eyes, before he left the room.
She spied the broken pieces of her phone on the floor and knew that her last connection was gone.
For once, she felt the rage of hatred flow through her body as she leapt off her bed, to push Sabertooth from her room. To him, the move was a mere irritant. A fly landing on his arm. Something else to be crushed. She struck him repeatedly, forgetting the injuries that would have made this painful. For her pain had been replaced. Her misery had been converted to pure, unadulterated, undiluted rage.
Sabertooth sighed and shoved her into the nearest wall. She struck the surface hard but pulled herself up. He threw her this time and she crashed into several crates. But she struck back, taking one of the nearby planks as her weapon.
He chuckled, using the plank to lift her into the air, which is how Piotr found them. He dropped what he was holding, to bowl straight into Sabertooth, forcing him to fling her once again to the wall.
While Sabertooth was temporarily distracted, Colossus pulled away the debris to help his little friend. She was dazed, but willing to fight on. Piotr held up one of her gloved hands and removed enough of the glove, so that their skin could make contact, evening out the odds.
She gazed at him curiously, before the strength took hold. She heard the laughter from the other side of the warehouse and that was enough to engage attack mode...