A/N: Here is Chapter 7! Been a bit busy but I am working on both fanfics so just be on the lookout for updates! Hope ya'll are enjoying the story so far! Lemme know what you think!
Chapter 7: Operation Take Down
Logan hated waiting, in fact it made him feel restless as he was waiting for Charles and Magneto to exit the war room. Magneto had metal walls in his safe house, but Logan can still hear the faint voices through them and get some partial information. The others were in the same room as Logan, patiently waiting and watching the Wolverine pace back and forth in anticipation. Scott sighs. "It's been an hour. How much longer are they going to make us wait?"
"Be patient, Scott. I'm sure with whatever plan the Professor and Magneto come up with is gonna have to be done carefully. Trask has been sending out more Sentinels and rounding up mutants off the streets, so we have to be more strategic in planning on how to take him down." Jean places a hand on Scott's, gazing into his eyes.
Scott grumbles a bit, slouching back in his seat. "I really hope Rogue and Gambit are, like, okay. Hopefully there weren't any, like, Sentinel run ins or anything." Kitty worries, her chin resting in her hand on her knee as she sat in her chair.
"Ja, I hope so too. Those Sentinels are no joke." Kurt sighs. "I just hope Rogue can come home soon…"
"Yeah, like, same. I'm, like, seriously missing her moody attitude. It's so not the same without her." Kitty nods, looking at the fuzzy elf. "And it's almost been, like, a year and we are living in Magneto's base for the time being while our home was destroyed intentionally by Mystique. I really hope everything goes back to normal."
"Don't worry, Kitty, I am sure everything will turn out okay." Hank reassures her with a smile as he read his book.
Suddenly, the door opens, Xavier and Magneto exiting out of the room and glancing around at the others. "We have come to a conclusion," Charles says, his fingers pressed together as his elbows rested on his armrests. Everyone looks in in anticipation. "Hank, Storm and I will be going to the Capital to try to convince them. Magneto and his team will be taking out any Sentinels in our vicinity. X-men, you are to take down Juggernaut. There have been sightings in Bayville and he must be stopped before he causes damage."
Everyone nods. "But what about Rogue's situation? What happens after the Sentinel program is shut down?" Logan asks.
"I am afraid that we have to let Destiny's visions play out for now. She will return home, but we must stay vigilant, Mesmero is still out there and from what we were told he is gathering some keys." Charles looks at Logan, a bit of a sad expression on his face.
Logan growls. "She's out there probably thinking we abandoned her. And how can we prevent Mesmero from finding her? What makes you think he will go after he?"
"Because Mesmero needs her to absorb mutant powers," Irene says, appearing in the room. "She will awaken Apocalypse and transfer all the powers she stole and he will become unstoppable, but it won't stop there. He'll know he needs to keep her around to absorb more mutants powers, but this could kill Rogue like how it almost killed her before, when all the previous powers she absorbed tried to take over."
"Are you saying she might die?" Logan turns to look at the blind woman.
"If everything does not go to plan she could," Irene nods. "But I have a feeling she will be okay for now. She's got someone to protect her when that time comes, but like your professor says, we must stay vigilant. Mystique will be helping Mesmero."
"Great. Adding more things to the plate." Logan rolls his eyes, sighing unhappily.
"It is how it is for now, Logan. We can only do so much." Charles says, sympathetically. "Irene has good intentions. Right now, we must put our plan into action though."
Magneto and his two Acolytes headed out to do their part-Sabertooth had dipped earlier not wanting to help out the X-men but also because he didn't want to be in the same room as Logan. Xavier and his team headed out for the capital while the X-men went to Bayville and looked for the Juggernaut.
It didn't take them long to find him as he had started causing chaos after the police tried to apprehend him. Scott strategizes how they should go about the situation, noticing news cameras were recording Juggernauts rant. Meanwhile, Xavier, Storm and Hank were trying to explain their own situation and to have the Sentinel program shut down, Xavier mentioning Trask was the one who had made the Sentinels in the first place.
Magneto, Pyro and Colossus kept one Sentinel away from the capital, keeping it busy and destroying it. Magento strips it down to singular parts, while Pyro blows up the more flammable parts and Colossus smashes the others.
The X-men were having some slight trouble with Juggernaut, some wishing Rogue was there to help as her powers would have been useful in helping take him down, but eventually Kurt managed to get the helmet off, Kitty phasing the giant mutant into the ground while Jean uses her powers to knock him unconscious with the help of Wolverine knocking his lights out.
Storm comments on how their powers were used for good as they all watched the news footage of the X-men taking the Juggernaut down. The room fell silent, then they whispered amongst each other, Hank and Storm exchanging worry glances to the Professor who just sits there calmly in his chair. One man clears his throat, looking directly into Xavier's eyes. "After careful consideration, we will be shutting down Trask's Sentinel program, giving a fine and jail time and we will see what we can do to help your school get back on it's feet, Professor. As long as there are good mutants out there who use those powers for good, then we will not intervene."
A long sigh of relief was released and they left grateful that it was a good outcome, Xavier letting the X-men know of the good news. Charles tells his team they will be staying in a bunker on the school grounds for the time being as everything settles and rebuilds.
Several of Trask's bases were infiltrated by special forces, releasing mutants that were trapped there but also eventually finding the weasel that caused the mess in the first place. Trask was not happy, in fact he was trying to fight his way out of his situation but eventually he was detained. His lock up made the news and all Sentinels were either destroyed, shut down or locked away in government facilities.
Meanwhile, in Panama City, Remy was browsing the channels as he waited for Rogue to come out of the shower, pausing when he saw the news story. His eyes widen in surprise as footage of the X-men taking down the Juggernaut was played and Trask's sentence was displayed below. Rogue exits the bathroom with her towel in her hands drying her hair. She looks at Remy, tilting her head im question. "What's goin' on?" She asks.
"Y' X-men were able t' put away Trask. We don' got t' worry 'bout dose Sentinels no more." Remy gets up, a smile on his face.
Rogue gasps, the towel slipping out of her hands. She looks at the tv, then hugs Remy tightly. He hugs her back just as tight, knowing how happy she was. Everything was going to be okay, for now, though something told Rogue it wasn't over yet. Remy steps back slightly to look at her, noticing the look on her face. "What's wrong chère?" He asks.
"Ah don't know.. Ah feel happy that we don't have ta worry about the Sentinels ever again, but ah get this feelin' that… that maybe we shouldn't go back ta Bayville just yet." Rogue looks up at him.
"Den maybe we jus' take our time gettin' dere?" Remy cups her cheek as he stares into her eyes. "Y' team knows what dere doin', chère. If dey wanted y' back right away, maybe y' Professo' would 'ave contacted y'."
Rogue nods, resting her head on his chest. They held each other for a while, basking in relief that they would not have to deal with Trask or his Sentinel's anymore. Now it's a matter of waiting. Waiting for when Rogue could go back home, but part of her wanted to stay on the road with Remy, both nervous about whether or not their teams would let them stay together. That and what Logan would do to Remy if he found out the Cajun was now her boyfriend. Rogue could see it now, Logan chasing the poor Cajun with his claws out, while Remy runs trying to get him to stop chasing him. "Somet'in' on y' mind?" Remy asks.
"Ah'm just wonderin' how everyone's gonna take ta ya bein' ma boyfriend, especially Logan." Rogue gives him a sheepish smile.
"What? De Wolverine? I don' t'ink he'd be able t' catch me even if he tried." Remy grins.
Meanwhile, Logan lets out a sneeze as he reads his newspaper, growling as he set it down on the table in the mansions bunker. "I think someone might be talking shit about me or somethin'."
"Iz zat vat zat means?" Kurt asks as he sits at the table with a plate.
Logan just grumbles as he straightens his paper, the others sitting down at the table to enjoy breakfast. "As you all know, today is your first day back to school since the incident. I want you all on your best behavior, no powers." Charles says as he enters the main area, stopping in front of the long table.
"Don't worry, Professor, you can count on us." Scott nods.
They finish their breakfast, grabbing their backpacks and heading off to school. "Man, I seriously hope today goes well." Evan sighs.
"Ja, I hope so too. I just know ze vrest of ze students aren't going to be too jazzed." Kurt frowns.
"We just have to do what the Professor says, it won't be all that bad." Jean tries to cheer up the sour mood.
"Yeah, but either way we are going to get treated differently because they, like, saw our faces on tv." Kitty makes a face as she walks alongside Jean.
"Don't worry, Kitty. As long as we follow what the Professor says, everything will be fine." Scott reassures the short brunette.
Kitty just sighs and grumbles to herself. They arrive at the school after driving there, being cautious as they walked up the path to the front doors. Students were already flooding the area, glances being shared, insults being hurled, but the X-men ignored it. Principle Kelly watched from his office, glaring down from out of his window, unhappy that the mutants were coming back to school.
Once inside, Kitty closes her locker after putting her things inside and taking out her math book, jumping when Risty appears. "Oh my god! You, like, scared me, Risty." Kitty sighs.
"Sorry. Have you seen Rogue at all?" Risty asks. "I noticed she didn't come into the school, is she sick?"
"Oh, um, Rogue is…" Kitty tries to come up with an excuse, feeling a bit nervous but also wondering if she should tell Risty the truth.
"Rogue is on a trip at ze moment." Kurt pops up with Amanda at his side, Kitty giving him a grateful look.
"Oh.. Okay. You guys.. alright? Ya know after all the fuss that has been happening." Risty asks.
"Yeah, we'll be fine." Kitty nods.
They head to class, the bell ringing and the day going on as normal-well semi-normal. Duncan tried picking a fight with Scott and Jean was accused of using her powers to sink a ball in the hoop during basketball, while Principle Kelly took away the trophies she had won the school from previous games.
The school day ends, the X-men going back home and retell their day to each other. "I, like, had to almost lie to Risty about where Rogue was. Luckily Kurt came and lied for me instead but, like, I didn't know what to say." Kitty lets out a groan.
"It's best we don't talk about Rogue's whereabouts to anyone else but the Professor." Jean says as she looks to Kitty.
"Yeah." Kitty sighs.
"I had to tell her she vwas on a trip." Kurt lets out a sigh, too.
"I mean, that's not entirely a lie…" Evan speaks, slowly skating by on the mansions path.
"Right, but still, we need to keep Rogue's whereabouts to ourselves." Scott looks at everyone. "We don't want to potentially endanger her anymore than she is."
"Who said she was still in danger?" Kitty asks.
"Have you forgotten who she's with?" Scott asks back. "Gambit is a pretty dangerous Acolyte, especially with the type of powers he has. I know Rogue can take care of herself but we don't know her condition from being held up in Trask's lab. You saw how hurt Evan, Hank and Blob were."
"Well, let's not jump to conclusions, Scott. For all we know, Gambit isn't that bad." Jean gives Scott a look. "I'm sure Rogue is fine wherever she is."
Scott just grumbles to himself, but Jean was right. Everyone knew Rogue knew how to take care of herself and fend for herself, it was only a matter of time when she would show up. If she will ever show up. They all just have to trust Destiny and what her visions tell her so that Rogue could come home safely.
A/N: Until next time, stay tuned!