Cable strode through the snow, he had been following his target for quite some time. Now he had found him. A fancy cabin was in his view as he stalked closer to it.
Inside the cabin, a couple were relaxing by the fireplace. The two had stared at the warm flames in peaceful silence before the woman, Gisela, decided to make conversation.
"I should be frightened, Warren."
"What do you mean?" Warren asked her with a bit of trepidation. She couldn't possibly know. Could she?
"They say you keep a mad scientist up here." Gisela said. "Dr. Frankenstein, perhaps?"
"His name's Gottfried Adler." Warren explained to her. "He's an expert on genetics. But he's not here. I sent him to Scotland to do research."
"We're alone, then." She whispered in his ear, feeling excited.
Warren seemed to ignore her hidden meaning as he got up. "I'd better take you home."
Gisela felt frustrated. Warren always kept her at arms length, as if he were afraid of her for some reason. "Why must you always push me away?"
Warren had his back to Gisella. "You wouldn't want to get close to me, not if you knew what I was really like."
Cable was exploring the cabin's study. In it were several machines and test tubes. Cable was scanning them, but he didn't find anything that confirmed he had the right person. Was he in the right place?
His attention was caught by the sound of a doorknob being turned. He had to hide.
Warren was going to do a bit more research when he passed by a bookshelf. Out of nowhere, a hand came out and grabbed him.
"Are you Adler?" Cable interrogated him.
Warren pulled out a gun from his pocket and fired, making Cable let him go. "I'm Warren Worthington III! Who are you?" He pushed the bookcase, which fell to the floor. The intruder was gone. Looking around the room, he saw the doors to the balcony were open. Heading there, he found the stranger wasn't there either.
He heard the intruder's voice behind him. "Next time you take a shot at somebody, make sure you hit him."
"I'll remember that." Warren said sardonically as he fired another shot at Cable, but it missed. Cable fired back, knocking Warren off the balcony into the snow.
Cable looked down at him. "You got a short memory."
"Warren?" Cable heard Gisela's voice.
As Cable headed back inside, Warren burst out of the snow, and in an unbelievable sight, wings like those of an angel sprung from his back.
"Pal, you picked the wrong chalet to terrorize." Warren proclaimed.
"What's going on?" Gisela had entered Warren's study. "Warren? Are you alright?" The door closed, revealing that Cable had been hiding behind it. Gisela gasped. "What? Where's Warren?"
"He's alright." Cable told her. "My weapon's set to stun. Where's Adler?"
"He's..." She tried to think back to where Adler was. "He's gone to Scotland."
"Scotland?" Cable pressed. "You mean Muir Island." He said this not as a question but as a statement. He then noticed Angel had flown back into the room. "Get down!" He pushed Gisela aside as he tried to shoot Warren, but his flight gave him the advantage as he dodged his shots and sent a punch at Cable, knocking him on his back. Getting fed up with this, Cable threw a flashbang at Warren, blinding him.
"Warren!" Gisela cried, covering her eyes from the flashbang. Cable took this opportunity to escape. When Warren was able to see his surroundings, he followed Cable's trail, only to find that he was gone.
"Warren's gone." Warren stated to Gisela crying out his name, not knowing that Cable was on the roof watching him.
Gisela, still disoriented from the flashbang, felt her hand across the floor until she came across Warren's gun. Picking it up, she aimed it at where she thought Cable was.
"Don't!" Warren cried as the gun was aimed at him, but Gisela fired it, sending him off the balcony again.
"No." Gisela said, now realizing what she had done and feeling horrified about it. "I didn't mean to."
She went over to apologize, but Warren was in the air, flying away.
"I'm sorry." Gisela said regretting her mistake.
On Muir Island, Xavier was currently heading back to the island's facility with an old friend of his, Moira. "You created the Center for Mutant Research, my dear Moira. Can't you demand to review Dr. Adler's work?" Xavier was concerned about the rumors he heard about a cure for mutants and wanted to get to the bottom of them.
"Aye, I would if I could." Moira said. "But he's not really part of the center. He pays me well for everything. His one request was to be left alone." They reached the entrance to the facility where Adler did his research.
"Then you don't know if he really can reverse mutations." Xavier kept prying for more information.
"I only knew what he tells me." Moira said neither confirming nor denying Xavier's question. She pressed a button on the call box next to the doors. "Dr. Adler? It's Moira McTaggart. I've an old friend here who's interested in your work. Professor Xavier from America."
"Visitors are verboten, not allowed." Dr. Adler spoke. "You promised no interference."
Xavier, having no other choice, decided to enter Adler's mind. Closing his eyes, he managed to reach out as he tried to search for information about the cure. However, he only saw glimpses of two figures. One was a blue-skinned woman dressed in white. The other was a big man who had green skin and was wearing purple armor. He couldn't see more as something pushed him out. Something very powerful.
"Xavier?" Moira saw that Xavier looked like he was in pain as he started twitching repeatedly.
Xavier was resting in Moira's infirmary. "I tried to probe his mind, but some force came between us. Do you think Adler could be a mutant himself?" He asked Moira.
Moira pondered that. "Well, now that would explain why he's after a cure."
"Don't say cure, Moira." Xavier admonished. "Being a mutant isn't a disease." He got himself back into his chair. "It's something you're born with. It's as normal as being a traditional Homo sapien."
"Not all mutants would agree with you." Moira said. "What do your X-Men say?"
"I don't know. I haven't told them about Adler's discovery. But it's time I did." Xavier went off to inform his team of the new development.
The X-Men were currently working on repairing the institute after Juggernaut destroyed it.
"That old boy Juggernaut sure made a mess, about like that Yankee general, Sherman." Rogue commented. She tied a rope around a piece of the roof and lifted it back up to where it belonged.
"Keep an eye on me, Gambit." Wolverine said as he stacked some boards. "You might learn something." He pulled out one of his claws and cut the stack perfectly in half.
Logan then saw Jean trying to put a piece of the wall back together. "Let me put some nails in that for you, Jean." Wolverine offered, coming over to her with a hammer in his hand. "I always did like working with my hands."
"I like to work with my mind." Jean made the nails come out of the box and implant themselves into the wood.
Storm was currently working on stirring some kind of cement.
Wolverine checked on it. "That mortar looks a little thick, Storm. Better add some water."
Storm made a small raincloud form on top of the bucket as it dropped water.
Gambit was getting a little annoyed with Wolverine ordering everyone around. "Big expert. Always giving orders."
"Making up for your screw-ups, gumbo." Wolverine said as he joined Danny in putting cement on the bricks, while Scott was using his optic blast for metalwork in putting the pipes together. "Too bad you don't know how to do anything but pick pockets and steal candy from babies."
Cyclops noticed Gambit tap one of the bricks behind Wolverine, igniting its energy. When Wolverine placed it with the others, he jumped back in shock as he saw it was about to blow.
"Look out!" Wolverine ducked for cover as Cyclops blasted it away. It exploded harmlessly without destroying any of their work.
"Gambit!" Cyclops interrogated. "What do you think you're doing?"
Gambit was nonchalantly shuffling his cards. "He better be more careful with his mouth."
Wolverine confronted him. "You better stop worrying about my mouth and start worrying about these!" He threatened him with his claws.
Gambit merely pulled out a charged card.
Danny, seeing that things were going to get ugly, summoned a ghost shield, which protected Gambit from Wolverine.
Rogue got in between the two. "Why don't you boys calm down?"
"You afraid I'm gonna hurt him?" Wolverine aggravated. "I thought Casper was the one you liked, or do you have a soft spot for the Cajun?"
Danny blushed at that comment, while Rogue wasn't amused.
"About as soft as you, fat head." She insulted.
Danny decided to dissuade Wolverine from fighting with Rogue. "Wolverine, If I were you, I wouldn't piss off a woman who can suck you dry."
Rogue smirked at what Danny said before going back to glaring at Wolverine. "You gonna shut up, or am I gonna have to help you?"
Jubilee came out and interrupted the quarrel. "Hey everybody! Guess who wants to talk to us?"
"A construction crew, hopefully." Danny said cynically. "Because we can't get this place back together by ourselves without killing each other."
They were all in the War Room as they were listening to Xavier, who was on one of the monitors, give his report.
"Dr. Adler claims his process can reverse genetic mutations within each cell of the body." Xavier revealed.
"What?" Rogue exclaimed, interested in learning this.
"You mean steal our powers?" Wolverine said suspiciously.
"It could be used as a weapon against us," Scott analyzed, "but some mutants might welcome the chance to become normal."
Danny saw that Rogue was contemplating this new information. He placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look up. He gave her a reassuring smile, which she returned halfheartedly.
"Yeah?" Wolverine challenged. "Who?"
"There's no right or wrong in choosing to remain a mutant." Xavier said, as Rogue turned to see Cyclops and Jean holding hands.
Danny, seeing Rogue's look of longing, took off one of her gloves and placed his hand in hers. Rogue gave a genuine grin at this. But then she looked back at her bare hand and was reminded of Cody. Now in a coma because of her. How long before she puts someone else in a coma? It could be one of the X-Men or a random citizen. What if one day her powers grew so strong that even Danny couldn't touch her?
"You have taught us to value our powers, professor," Storm said, "not for their own sake but for what they can do for others."
"You tell them, Storm." Wolverine joined in. "No deserters in this crowd."
Danny, who was sitting next to Wolverine, elbowed the mutant for his insensitivity. At Wolverine's glare, Danny flashed his eyes, making the feral mutant back down angrily.
"Each of us will have to make their own decision if Adler's process really works." Xavier announced to his students.
The monitor turned off, and Rogue left the room in a hurry as Danny watched her with concern.
Cyclops and Jean were cuddling in the unfinished Institute, enjoying each other's company.
"I'm worried about Rogue, Cyclops." Jean confessed.
"Rogue?" Cyclops questioned. "Why?"
"Because I know how she feels when I touch your hand or when we kiss." Jean replied. "Because I can sense her pain."
"Rogue?" Danny knocked on her door. "Can I come in?"
"Sure, sugar." Rogue replied, making Danny frown at her sad tone.
He entered the room and saw that Rogue was sitting on her bed forlornly.
Danny's heart felt a bit of pain at seeing her look so miserable.
"I noticed you haven't been yourself since you heard about the cure." He observed. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Rogue looked at Danny hesitantly. "Don't get mad, but I've been thinking of what it would be like if I took that cure."
"Why would I be mad?" Danny asked, perplexed.
"I thought you would think I was deserting you guys." Rogue said guiltily. "You heard what Wolverine said."
"Rogue, Wolverine doesn't know what it's like to be you." Danny comforted her. He cursed Logan silently for being a dick back in the War Room. "It's your decision. If you want to take the cure, then go ahead. Do you want to?"
"I'm tired of always having to cover up and being cautious around the others." Rogue broke like a dam, letting out all of her feelings of frustration with her powers. "It's awful feeling like a threat to your friends. I want to touch people. I put my old boyfriend in a coma, and I don't want to risk doing it to someone else."
Danny's heart went out to Rogue. He could never understand the isolation she felt, but he could empathize with the feeling of being afraid of hurting the people you cared about. He sometimes blamed his powers for the deaths of his loved ones. If he didn't have them, Dan wouldn't exist, and his friends would still be alive. But Danny couldn't get rid of his powers. Unless he used the ghost gauntlets, but he knew the consequences for doing that. For a second, he thought he heard Dan's laugh as he recalled his past, but realized it was just his mind playing tricks on him.
"You're your own person, Rogue." Danny brought her in for a hug. "And you deserve to be happy. If this cure will make you happy, then I say go ahead and take it."
"But what will the others think?" Rogue brought up. "I won't have any powers, so I won't be of any use."
"And you won't be of any use to the team if you're constantly miserable." Danny argued. "We're your friends, Rogue, and we will respect any decision you make. Also, if Wolverine gives you a hard time, then I'll phase him down to the center of the Earth."
Rogue smiled for the first time in a while. "Thank you, sugar. I knew you were a superhero, but were you also a therapist?"
Danny laughed. "No, my sister, Jazz, was training to be a psychologist, and I just picked up a couple things from her." He then asked her the important question. "Do you want the cure?"
Rogue thought hard about this, weighing all of her pros and cons, before she finally made a decision. "I want it."
"Well, let's go. You mind If I tag along?"
Rogue grinned. "Why not?"
Danny went to leave. "We'll take off in the morning; take care."
"Thank you, Danny." Rogue gave him a hug. "I can't wait. I'll be able to touch anyone instead of just you."
Danny returned the hug as he walked back to his room. For some reason, he couldn't explain why the last few words Rogue said kept popping into his head.
"Instead of just you."
Danny and Rogue had arrived at Muir Island. They met with Dr. Adler, and he more than happily cured Rogue. Danny couldn't help but give a wide smile at Rogue's tears of joy when she realized she was finally normal.
"So ready to head home?" Danny asked her.
She gave him a confused look. "What about you? Aren't you going to get the cure?"
Danny was confused. "No. Why would I want the cure?"
"Because you want to be with me, right, sugar? I mean no offense, but I'm kind of creeped out by you."
Danny had a look of disbelief on his face. "Excuse me?" Perhaps he misheard her.
"You heard me." Rogue reiterated. "You're half-ghost, sugar. It's unnatural. I mean, your heart doesn't beat, for Christ's sake. Do you think girls are into that shit? The only reason I could stand it was because you were the only person I could touch. Now that I can have any man I want, I don't really feel like touching a corpse."
Hearing those words, whatever was left of Danny's heart shattered.
Rogue thought he was a freak. A corpse. That's what she called him. He thought that they had something special. That she accepted him for who he was. Didn't she say that after that whole debacle where he was split in half, or was that just a lie?
His hands trembled as he tried to pull himself together. It was like someone had torn his heart out, stomped on it, and lit it on fire. Danny really cared about her. He wanted her to be happy, and he thought that she returned those feelings, but no. She just saw him for the physical benefits.
"But that doesn't mean we can't fix it, Danny." Rogue said, snapping him from his thoughts. "You just need to get the cure, and we can be together. We can both be normal. Isn't that what you want? To be normal. To be with me."
"I thought you said you cared for all of me, Phantom included?" Danny asked quietly as he gave Rogue a look of absolute betrayal.
Rogue just glared at him as if he had suggested that she go and commit genocide. "Why would I want to be a necrophiliac?"
Tears were falling from Danny's eyes. This couldn't be happening. Rogue would never say something so cruel to him.
Rogue snapped her fingers in front of Danny's eyes. "You listening or what? I asked you a question. What's it going to be, me or your powers?"
"Rogue, you can't make me decide that." Danny sobbed.
"I can and I will." Rogue replied coldly. Her eyes were like daggers as they penetrated Danny's soul. "I'm normal now, and a normal lady like me needs a man who is normal like her. Now you're going to get that cure and be a regular human, or I'm leaving you right now and never looking back. I'll find another man to touch. A gal with looks like mine can find something better than you."
Danny couldn't take this anymore. Rogue was straight-up threatening to leave him if he didn't get rid of his powers. Did that cure do something to her? Because she never gave off this impression. Maybe she was just good at hiding it.
"Even if I wanted to. The cure wouldn't affect me; I'm not a mutant."
"True." Dr. Adler said. "The cure may not work on you, but I know someone who can cure you." Dr. Adler gestured to his right, where a familiar figure walked in.
Danny was flabbergasted. "Vlad?"
Vlad stood there dressed up like he was preparing for a major surgery. "All you want is to make the hurt go away. I'll grant your wish." On his hands were two familiar objects.
The ghost gauntlets.
Their claws extended, ready to rip out his ghost half. Vlad started to walk towards Danny, ready to help him.
"No!" Danny protested as he backed away, but he stumbled and fell onto a table, where the restraints locked him in.
The table then started moving, putting Danny in a vertical position.
"Get away!" Danny cried as he tried to phase through them, but to no avail. How were these things ghost-proof?
Rogue looked on in excitement, not caring for Danny's demands to be let go. She only wanted the operation to happen.
"Don't worry, Daniel." Vlad reassured him. "No more painful human emotions to drag you down."
This was too much for Danny, as he feinted.
Waking up, he could see that Vlad was gone, along with Dr. Adler. Rogue was in the corner crying. Seeing that his restraints were gone, he got closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder, only for her to push it off angrily.
"You monster!" She pointed at him in accusation. "You killed him! You really are a freak! I can't believe that I ever had feelings for you!"
In Rogue's arms was him. More accurately, his human half, except he had a hole in his stomach that was bleeding out. The light in his eyes was gone.
"This is all your fault!" Rogue blamed him.
His fault?
He never wanted this.
His depression soon turned to rage. How dare she! After everything, she dumped him like garbage. She was the one who pushed him into this. If it was anyone's fault, it was hers. Rogue kept hurling insults at him, and he couldn't take it anymore.
He fired an ecto-blast at Rogue, sending her through a wall as he started to destroy anything he could get his hands on. He threw a computer across the room, breaking it. He started punching holes in the walls. Anything to distract him from the pain. He grabbed some weird-looking machine and threw it at a mirror, shattering it. Looking at the mess in the room, he noticed the glass shards that littered the floor. Glancing at one, he took a good look at his reflection. Except it wasn't his reflection that was staring back at him.
It was Dan's.
Sweat was pouring down Danny's face as he woke up back in his bedroom. He was breathing rapidly for a bit before he calmed down.
'It was just a dream.' He thought to himself. He was relieved that it was just a nightmare, but he still felt worried.
If Rogue took the cure, would she still like him? Would she still want to be with him, or would she find someone else?
Danny managed to go back to sleep and woke up to find Rogue in his room.
"So how are we getting to Muir Island, sugar?" Rogue asked him.
Danny was a bit shocked by Rogue's enthusiasm. 'Then again.' He thought. 'Wouldn't you want to be cured if you couldn't touch anyone?'
"I got Vlad to get us a private plane." Danny answered. "We'll go in a couple hours."
"Thank you so much, spooky." She leaned down and kissed his cheek before she left.
Last night's nightmare came back to Danny, along with the words Rogue said to him that night.
"Instead of just you."
They got to Rogue's car, and Danny couldn't help but whistle at the cool vehicle. It was very impressive.
"Nice car." Danny praised.
Rogue chuckled. "It gets me where I need to go."
They drove to the airport and got on their private jet. They sat in silence for the next couple of hours.
Rogue was sitting next to Danny as they rode the private jet towards Muir Island. She should be excited, but she felt a bit apprehensive. After all, once she took the cure, there was no going back. She wouldn't have her strength or her ability to fly. What would she do after that? She could see if the X-Men would let her stay. But what if they didn't? Where would she go? What about Danny? Would he stay with her, or would he stay with the X-Men if she wasn't welcome there anymore?
She looked at Danny, who was looking out the window with a troubled look on his face. He had hardly talked since they took off. What was eating him? Was he disappointed that she was giving up her powers? Didn't he say that he wanted her to be happy, or was that a lie?
"Are you ok, sugar?" Rogue asked him, hoping to smooth things between them. "You haven't said a word since the flight started."
She had really grown to care for Danny ever since he joined the X-Men. He was kind and caring toward his friends. He was a funny guy who never failed to make her laugh. He was brave, willing to go to hell and back to protect people. He also had good looks; Rogue often had to stop herself from drooling when she thought about his abs. Oh, how she could just rub her hand on those... She focused again on her thoughts about Danny.
Not only was he a gentleman, but he made her feel special. She remembered last week when everyone was suffering from the heat, and her covered-up clothing made it especially worse for her. Danny saw how Rogue was having a hard time, so he made it snow in her room. It was so sweet. She was glad she was able to touch this wonderful man, or else she might have gone mad.
Danny didn't meet her eyes. He was still looking out the window. "I've just been thinking." He paused before he asked her, "You excited?"
Rogue, still feeling a bit awkward about Danny's mood, answered his question. "Yeah, I'm going to be normal for once."
The word "normal" echoed in Danny's head repeatedly, like an annoying tune he couldn't get out of his head.
Normal.
Something he wasn't.
"You're a freak!" Spectra's voice sounded through his head. "Not a ghost, not a boy! Who cares for a thing like you?"
Danny couldn't take this anymore. He needed to talk to someone. Anyone, but who? It then clicked. Who else knows what he's going through?
Vlad.
"I'm gonna use the bathroom." Danny told Rogue before getting up.
Inside the bathroom, he pulled out his phone and dialed Vlad's number.
"Daniel, what a pleasant surprise!" Vlad's cultured voice came from the phone. "What can I help you with, dear boy?"
Danny then explained his whole situation to Vlad.
"Interesting." Vlad remarked. "I'd suggest that if you don't want her to leave you, destroy the cure. That way, she will only be able to touch you."
Danny shot down Vlad's suggestion. "I can't do that. This cure means so much to her; I could never take that hope away from her."
"What are you going to do, then, Daniel?" Vlad asked him. "Stand back and do nothing? I did that, and Maddie ended up with Jack. If you want something, you can't wait for it to come to you. You have to take action."
"But this cure will make her happy." Danny claimed. "I want her to be happy."
"Well, it comes down to you, Daniel." Vlad told him. "What do you want? Rogue to be happy, or you to be happy?"
Danny took in Vlad's words. What did he want? If he kept the cure from Rogue, she would spend her life isolated from everyone but him. He didn't have the right to do that to her. If he did, he would be like Vlad used to be. A bitter man obsessed with holding onto what he can never have. If Rogue wanted to be happy, then he would help her. Even if she didn't want to be with him after taking the cure, he still wanted her to be happy.
He sighed as he embraced the possibility that Rogue might not be interested in him after taking the cure. It wasn't going to be easy, but doing the right thing never was.
"Vlad, I know what I have to do." Danny said. "I want Rogue to be happy. If that happiness doesn't include me, then so be it. I care about her more than my own insecurities. So I'm going to help her get that cure. Thanks for listening to me."
"You're a good man, Daniel." Vlad complimented. "Better than I could ever hope to be. She'd be a fool not to be with you."
Danny hung up and went back to his seat. He would help Rogue get the cure, no matter what she chose to do with her life afterwards.
After all, isn't that what heroes do? Help people without asking for anything in return.
"Hey, I'm sorry if I seem a bit closed off. I've just been thinking about some personal things." He took Rogue's hand. "Sorry if I made you feel bad."
Rogue beamed at Danny. "No problem, sugar. I've been feeling a bit down as well, so don't worry your handsome head over it."
The two sat in silence again, but this time in contentment.
As they got near the island, Danny turned ghost and phased them out of the plane. Looking down at their destination below, they saw Muir Island.
"You ready?" Danny asked her.
Rogue nodded as they flew down.
Meanwhile, in a pub on Muir Island, two mutants were trying to cure their boredom. "Muir Island. What a dump." One of them said as he threw a dart. He was a regular looking man. The only way one could tell he was a mutant was by the gray armor that he was wearing. "There ain't nothing to steal on this worthless rock. This friend of yours better show up soon, or I'm going back to jail, just for something to do." He said the last sentence to his comrade.
"Are we becoming impatient, old stick?" His friend asked. He was a blonde man dressed in red, orange, and yellow spandex.
"The name's Avalanche, limey." The newly dubbed Avalanche said. "And what we're becoming is broke. This scam of hers better pay off big."
Danny and Rogue landed outside the pub as they decided to take a break after their long flight.
As they walked in, the blonde mutant noticed them. He pointed Rogue out to Avalanche. "That could be Mystique now."
"What do you mean, could be?" Avalanche doubted. "Don't you know what she looks like?"
"She's a shape changer, old man." His friend spoke briskly. "One can never be sure."
Danny and Rogue were having some drinks when a blonde man approached them.
"Looking for me, love?" He asked Rogue.
Rogue gave him an annoyed look. "I sincerely doubt it."
"Unless you're Gottfried Adler." Danny added. "But you don't look like the brainy type."
"Alas, no." The man said before he shot a flame out of a flamethrower attached to his wrist at a nearby chair, burning it. "They call me Pyro." He introduced himself and then placed a hand around Rogue. "In the mood for a hot date?" He flirted with her.
Danny had enough of this as he yanked Pyro off of Rogue and threw him at the dartboard.
Rogue raised an eyebrow at what Danny did. He usually isn't this aggressive.
"How about trying that with me?" Avalanche provoked getting up in Danny's face.
Rogue was getting sick of this as she got up to confront Avalanche. "Well, alright, hon, since you asked nicely." She then threw Avalanche through the wall, where he fell into the ocean.
"Nice throw." Danny complimented her.
"Thanks, Danny." Rogue said. "I've had enough of this place; let's go find Dr. Adler."
They left the pub.
Back in the water, Avalanche resurfaced and saw Cable in the distance, riding a speed boat. Thinking this was Mystique, he called out for Pyro. "Pyro!" But he saw that Pyro was gone. "Where'd he go?" Avalanche asked himself.
Danny and Rogue approached the entrance to Adler's facility. Rogue pressed a button on the call box. "Hello? Dr. Adler?" She inquired hopefully.
"Visitors are verboten." Adler's voice said.
Danny and Rogue looked at each other. Danny was going to phase them through the door, but Rogue decided to punch it open.
'She really wants that cure.' Danny thought.
"We didn't fly across the whole danged ocean to take no for an answer." Rogue said angrily.
Dr. Adler turned away from his work to address the two that forced their way in. "What do you want?"
"I hear you can change people, doctor." Rogue told him. "Change them, so they won't be mutants anymore. You can make me like other people, and you can name your own price."
Unknown to the three of them. Pyro was at the destroyed entrance, eavesdropping on their conversation.
"You have great strength as well as great beauty." Adler pointed out. "Why do you wish to become merely normal?"
"Because I don't wanna live my whole life without having to worry about hurting people when I touch them." Rogue answered, trying to hold back her tears.
Adler hummed in thought. "I will consider your request." He told her as Pyro slipped away. Adler then walked them to the door. "Come back in one hour. I will have an answer for you then."
"Thanks, doc." Danny thanked him. "Also, sorry about the door; I can take care of that when we get back."
"It is no problem." Adler said as he closed the damaged door. Next to him was another person. The terrifying man that Xavier saw in his mind.
"Apocalypse!" Adler responded to his appearance as he changed, revealing Adler to be the blue-skinned lady that Xavier also got a glimpse of. "You heard what she wanted?"
"Yes." Apocalypse said. "Like all people, she is a fool, but she has great powers. You will use the machine and make her my slave."
Rogue and Danny were sitting on a cliff overlooking the moon and the beautiful ocean. Rogue was thinking back to everything that got her here. She could hear voices from the past.
She could hear Storm as she said, "You have taught us to value our powers." Her voice repeated it again. "Value our powers."
Then she heard Cody, as he was talking to Rogue on the night they had their first kiss. "The moon sure is pretty tonight. You ever been kissed, girl?" He asked her.
"I'm beginning to think I never will be, the way you keep going on about the moon." She heard her past self respond before kissing him as he fell down from her powers draining him.
"Cody!" Her past self cried. "Cody. Cody."
Her mind then thought of Danny and how he had been acting since they left. He had been closed off, and although he tried to reassure her that it was something else, Rogue was suspecting that Danny was secretly mad that she was taking the cure.
"You tell them, Storm. No deserters in this crowd." Wolverine's voice said.
Did Danny see her as a deserter? She didn't want him to think that. She just didn't want to be a risk to others. Sighing, she decided to talk this over with Danny. Only Danny was sitting perfectly still. He wasn't even blinking. Rogue was a bit creeped out, but she then noticed she was suddenly wearing some kind of medallion.
Examining it, she found the initials C. W. on it. She was wondering where this came from and how it got on her.
"Hello Anna Marie." She turned around to see someone behind her. He was wearing a purple cloak and holding some kind of staff in his hand.
"Who are you?" Rogue stood up to fight this person if they proved themselves to be trouble. "And how do you know my real name?"
"I am Clockwork, the ghost of time." Clockwork introduced himself. He then shifted into another form; he was shorter and sported a white beard. "For me, time moves backwards and forwards and in any other kind of direction." He then turned into another form, looking like an infant version of himself. "I know your real name because I know everything."
Rogue was amazed as she stared at the timekeeper. She had never seen a ghost before, besides Danny. She then looked down and realized what the initials on the medallion stood for.
"Don't remove that." Clockwork warned her softly. "You see, I have frozen time all around us. The reason you're not affected is because you're wearing one of my medallions."
"Why are you here?" Rogue questioned. Why would someone as powerful as him concern himself with something as insignificant as her?
Clockwork glanced in Danny's direction. "Such a kind soul." He referred to Danny. "Always rising up to do the right thing. I remember when we first met."
"You met Danny before?" Rogue was interested. She just hoped that Clockwork wasn't one of Danny's old enemies.
"Yes." Clockwork confirmed. "I tried to help him save the ones he cared about." Clockwork looked down in sadness at the reminder of Danny's tragedy. He focused on Rogue. "But that is a story for another time. I am here because I have something to show you."
A portal appeared in front of Rogue, and in it she could see the past. She saw herself and Danny back on the plane. Danny had walked into the bathroom, where he took out his phone.
Rogue heard Danny express to Vlad his worries about her leaving him once she took the cure. She frowned at Danny's worries. She wasn't going to leave him because she was normal. Why would she do that? She cared for him a lot. She wanted him in her life, no matter what.
She was about to say something at the part where Vlad suggested destroying the cure when Clockwork shushed her.
"Just keep watching." He told her.
She watched Danny respond negatively to the idea.
"I can't do that. This cure means so much to her; I could never take that hope away from her."
Rogue kept on watching, entranced by what Danny was saying.
"But this cure will make her happy. I want her to be happy."
He really did want her to be happy. Her heart started beating rapidly as Danny kept talking.
"Vlad, I know what I have to do. I want Rogue to be happy. If that happiness doesn't include me, then so be it."
Rogue disagreed. Danny being with her would always bring her joy.
"I care about her more than my own insecurities. So I'm going to help her get that cure. Thanks for listening to me."
Tears of gratitude and joy dripped down her cheeks. What a man. Willing to put her needs over his. She loved him. She loved Danny, and she wanted to be with him. Whether she could get a cure or not, she wanted Danny to be by her side. She wasn't going to abandon him. He wasn't desirable just because he could touch her. He was desirable because of who he was and how he made her feel.
The portal then disappeared as Rogue gave Clockwork her thanks.
"Thank you for showing me this. I just have one more question."
Clockwork gestured for her to go ahead.
"My powers don't affect him. That won't change, right? They'll never grow strong enough to hurt him."
"No." Clockwork answered. "Your powers work by absorbing one's life force. Since ghosts don't have a life force, they are not affected. This holds true for Danny, despite being only half ghost."
Rogue nodded in understanding. "Thank you for showing me this."
"It was my pleasure." Clockwork replied. "I wish you the best." He then pressed a button on his staff. "Time in."
Rogue found that Clockwork was gone, and so was the medallion that she was wearing.
Danny was looking at her in disbelief. "How did you get over there?"
Rogue was about to explain when she realized that it had been an hour. "I'll tell you later. It's time to go back to Adler's."
Danny got up as they flew to their destination.
"Hey, when this is all over, did you want to go get dinner?" Rogue asked him.
Danny's eyes widened before he regained his cool. "Yeah, sure."
"Great." Rogue said. "Because I really like you, sugar. And I still want to be with you even if I don't have my powers."
Danny gave a grateful and relieved smile to the southern mutant. Guess he was worried for nothing. "I want to be with you as well."
"Avalanche!" Pyro was calling out to the ocean, looking for any sign of his fellow mutant. "Avalanche!" He then saw Cable walk in his path. "Hello, you aren't Avalanche."
"I'm looking for Gottfried Adler." Cable stated.
"Well, of course you are, old darling." Pyro said mockingly. "He's such a popular fellow." He fired his flamethrower at Cable, who dodged it and fired his own weapon at the pyrokinetic mutant, sending him into the water.
"Don't call me darling." Cable said as he left.
Pyro drifted a bit in the water before Avalanche pulled him out.
"What did you do, fall in?" Avalanche demanded.
Pyro waved it off. "Never mind." He pushed Avalanche's hands away from him. "I've found our pot of gold. There seems to be a local scientist who's in big demand these days. As soon as I've dried off, we shall arrange a disappearance." He made a fire to warm himself. "And my dear friend Mystique need never know."
"Your whole life will change after the treatment." Mystique said in Adler's form. Rogue was on a table below a machine that had several arms on it. Danny was standing by her side.
"Believe me. That's what I'm here for, Doc." Rogue quipped.
"So you ready?" Danny smirked at her, which she returned.
"More than ever." Rogue replied. "Although, to be honest, I'm actually more excited for our date afterwards."
"It may be unpleasant at first, but then you will feel nothing." Adler told her.
Danny then heard Vlad's voice speak in his head. "No more painful human emotions to drag you down." But he ignored it. This was about Rogue, not him.
Before they could start the procedure, an earthquake came as the entire building shook. A wall exploded as Pyro and Avalanche burst in.
"Well done, old bean." Pyro praised Avalanche.
"Ah great." Danny said sarcastically. "The dynamic duo are back."
"Y'all looking for a rematch?" Rogue threatened them as she got up.
"Perhaps another time." Avalanche fired his seismic waves at the machine above Danny and Rogue, causing it to fall on them.
"Bag the good doctor." Pyro commanded.
"Right." Avalanche pulled out a bag as he approached the doctor menacingly.
"You are making a terrible mistake." Adler warned them, but Avalanche ignored it as he bagged Adler and threw him over his shoulder. The two then ran out with their captive.
Cable was watching them as they escaped. "Adler." He then started following them.
Danny phased himself and Rogue out of the wreckage.
"Those boys are making me mad." Rogue raged.
"Let's go make them regret ever messing with us." Danny said as the two flew after them.
Moira ran to the facility as she heard noises coming from the building. "Dr. Adler!" She called out to the doctor.
"I heard a loud crash, Moira." Xavier pulled up next to her. "What's going on?"
"I do not know." Moira said, troubled.
As Avalanche and Pyro were running, Avalanche was getting tired of carrying the doctor. "How about you carrying him for a while?" He put the doctor down.
"Shall we make him walk?" Pyro pulled off the sack. "Listen, old man..." He stopped as soon as he saw that it wasn't Dr. Adler. Not anymore. "Blimey!" Pyro cried.
"He's a woman." Avalanche said dumbly.
Pyro backed away from the woman. "He's Mystique."
"And you're a fool, Pyro." Mystique scolded him. "I asked you to come here because I thought Apocalypse might find some use for you."
"Who's Apocalypse?" Avalanche asked Pyro.
Pyro shrugged. "Haven't the foggiest."
"He's my master," Mystique explained, "and he'll crush you like an insect if you interfere again!"
"So your machine doesn't cure mutants." Pyro realized. "It turns them into slaves of Apocalypse."
"You mean you just made up this guy Adler?" Avalanche queried Mystique.
"He was real enough until he met Apocalypse." Mystique then turned back into Dr. Adler.
"Personally, I find this frightfully confusing." Pyro admitted to Avalanche.
"Y'all get away from him." Rogue said as she and Danny flew towards them.
"It gets worse." Avalanche bemoaned.
"Or you'll need a doctor, sure enough." Rogue threatened.
"I could never say no to a woman." Pyro fired his flamethrower, but Danny fired a blast of ice from his hand, putting it out.
"Back off, firefly." Danny said. "We need that guy."
Rogue grabbed a boulder and threw it at the two, but Avalanche fired his seismic waves, shattering it.
In the commotion, Mystique slinked away.
"Dr. Adler?" Rogue called out, noticing that he was gone.
Mystique was just about to escape when she ran into Cable.
"Dr. Adler, I presume." Cable said as he aimed his gun at who he thought was Adler.
"What the devil could have happened here?" Moira observed the damaged lab.
"It appears that Dr. Adler has been kidnapped." Xavier commented.
"Professor Xavier." Scott walked in with Jean.
Xavier was curious about why they were here. "Cyclops, Jean, what are you doing here?"
"Rogue's disappeared, professor." Scott revealed. "So has Danny."
"I believe they have come here to see Dr. Adler to undergo his treatment." Jean theorized.
Xavier was now anxious over what could have happened to his students. "If they have, they may be in danger of losing more than their powers."
Avalanche was thrown into some mud by Danny while Pyro was trying to fry Rogue, who was avoiding his attacks in the air.
Pyro tried to reason with the angry woman. "Listen, old girl, must we do this? I think we're all making a terrible mistake!" He screamed the last word as Rogue came up behind him and started spinning him. She let go of Pyro, launching him into Avalanche as they both fell into the mud.
With those two taken care of, Danny and Rogue started to search for Adler.
"Dr. Adler?" Rogue called out.
"Where are you?" Danny yelled.
Dr. Adler was on a cliff being held at gunpoint by Cable. "Who are you?" Adler demanded, not knowing who this person is.
"The name's Cable." Cable said. "Last known address, Genosha. They used to turn mutants into slaves down there."
Dr. Adler tried to act oblivious. "I have never heard of it."
"They did it with collars that suppressed their mutant powers. Collars you made." Cable tapped Adler's back with his gun. "That makes you a dangerous man. Too dangerous to live."
"You are making a terrible mistake." Adler told Cable. "Dr. Adler is already dead."
Cable wasn't buying that. "That's kind of hard to believe coming from you."
Adler then turned back into Mystique. "Do you believe me now?" She asked mockingly before turning back into Adler.
"Get away from that man!" Rogue demanded as she landed next to them with Danny. "What do you think you're doing?"
Danny recognized Cable. "You again?"
Rogue turned to Danny. "You know him?"
"He briefly helped us out back on Genosha." Danny explained to her. He then addressed Cable. "What are you doing here?"
"Making the world safer for mutants." Cable fired at them, making them dodge. Rogue landed near a rock, which she threw at Cable, sending his gun off the cliff. Danny then fired an ecto-blast at Cable, knocking him away from Adler.
The Blackbird arrived with Xavier, Moira, Jean, and Scott in tow.
"There's Adler." Xavier pointed out as Jean and Scott came out.
"Drop the weapon." Scott ordered.
"No." Cable fired a shot at them, but Jean blocked it by placing a rock in its path.
"Look out, y'all!" Rogue warned them as she noticed the rock was about to explode.
Danny punched Cable, sending him off a cliff, but Cable managed to grab onto the side.
As the others came to look down where Cable fell, the rock exploded, pushing Jean off.
"No!" Scott cried.
"Jean!" Rogue flew down and caught her before she could land in the water. "You all right, hon?"
"Just bruised, thanks to you." Jean looked down at the water below. "What about him?"
"Whoever he was, it's too late to help him now." Rogue replied as she brought Jean back up with the others.
"A most extraordinary young woman." Adler complimented as Scott and Jean embraced.
Danny agreed with Adler. "No kidding."
"Thank you, Rogue." Cyclops thanked his friend. "You don't know how much this means to me."
Looking at the happy couple, Rogue made an important decision.
"But I thought you wanted to be cured?" Adler said as Danny and Rogue were helping with repairing the lab.
"That's what I thought, too, Doc." Rogue said. "But there ain't no cure for who you are."
"Then you must live forever in the prison of your mutant powers." Adler pointed out.
"Dude, don't go there." Danny said. "Just be glad that we fixed your lab and saved you from those three maniacs."
"I am my powers," Rogue asserted, "and the good they can do for my friends and for the whole world." She turned to Danny. "I reckon maybe I can live with that after all."
"Very heroic, Rogue." Danny complimented. "But what else can I expect from a superhero?"
"Thanks anyway, Doc." Rogue then grabbed Danny's arm as they walked out. "Come on, spooky, let's go home."
They took off into the air, where they almost collided with Warren.
"Look out!" Warren cried. Luckily, they all managed to stop themselves from flying into each other.
"Look out yourself!" Rogue reprimanded Warren.
"How do you fly without wings?" Warren asked them out of curiosity.
"I don't know. We just do." Rogue answered.
"You two are lucky." Warren said as he flew towards Adler's lab.
"Yeah, lucky." Rogue said bitterly.
Mystique was working when she heard someone's voice. "Dr. Adler."
Mystique turned back into Adler as she greeted the new arrival. "Herr Worthington!"
Warren landed in the lab. "I came here to warn you, doctor. But it looks like I'm too late."
"Why did you not tell me you are a mutant?" Adler asked.
"Why do you think I've supported your research?" Warren said rhetorically.
The scientist nodded. "You wish to be changed?"
"Is the treatment ready?" Warren asked eagerly.
Mystique was walking along the ocean in the form of Adler, calling out for her master. "Apocalypse. Apocalypse!" She turned back to her true form. "I've found another mutant to become your slave."
"The millionaire, Warren Worthington, with the wings of an angel." Apocalypse replied knowingly.
Mystique was surprised at Apocalypse's knowledge. "How did you know he was a mutant?"
"I know most of this world than you have even dreamed." Apocalypse proclaimed. "That is why I must destroy it."
"Are you sure you don't want the cure, Rogue?" Danny asked her as they flew back home.
"I'm positive. These powers have their problems, but with them I can help make the world a better place for everyone." Rogue said. "Besides, I can at least touch you. My powers will never hurt you." She thought back to Clockwork confirming that to her and what else he showed her.
"Actually," Rogue began, "there's something I wanted to tell you. While we were waiting for Adler, I was visited by Clockwork."
"Clockwork?" Danny questioned before he snapped his fingers in realization. "That's why you suddenly teleported away from my side. Clockwork froze time, didn't he?"
"Yeah, and he showed me your conversation with Vlad over the phone back on the plane."
Danny stopped as his eyes were filled with panic. Rogue had heard their conversation.
"I..." He was cut off by Rogue putting a finger over his lips.
"Let me finish." She playfully scolded him. "I saw how you were scared that I would leave you if I got the cure." She gave Danny a serious look. "Listen to me, Danny; I like you. And it's not because you're the only one who can touch me. I like you because you're a nice guy, and I'm thankful that I can touch you. I also want to thank you for wanting me to be happy, even though you were afraid that it wouldn't work out between us. That was very sweet and generous."
She paused as she finally decided to drop the last bombshell. "I love you, Danny." And she meant that sincerely. She truly loved Danny with all her heart. She never felt this way about anyone. Hell, not even Cody stirred such feelings in her. "You are the greatest man I've ever met, and I want to be with you."
Danny gazed at Rogue silently before he said, "I love you too, Rogue."
Rogue then placed her hands on Danny's cheeks. "Now there's something I want to do that has been way overdue." She pulled his head down and brought his lips into a passionate, wet, sloppy kiss.
The two floated above the ocean as they made out.
No matter what happened in their future, they would at least have each other.
Clockwork watched the tender scene between the newly proclaimed lovers. He looked down at the Fenton Thermos he had in his possession. "You could've had that as well, Dan. If you didn't give up your humanity."
Dan merely growled from within his prison. He didn't care how long it would take; he would escape and make them all pay.
Clockwork, for imprisoning him in this damn thermos.
Danny, for defying his destiny.
The X-Men, for taking in his past self and becoming his new family.
And most importantly, Rogue, for undoing all the work that he'd done to ensure Danny became him. Making Danny think that a freak like them could ever be loved.
She would pay.
Dan would see to it.