Whatever showed on her face caused Joseph to pause, his assured look faltering for a moment. Misinterpreting her expression, he looked over his shoulder to see whatever he thought she was looking at.

However; that may have saved his life as he erected a large magnetic shield just in time to avoid being hit by a powerful laser. Bastion had turned and fired on him; using a rifle that seemed similar to the device he used on Rogue prior. He was backing away to a ring he threw onto the ground.

"Mutant scum!" he snarled at them as he pressed a button. "Base, self-destruct; now!" he said as he teleported away. The white-haired man shouted and tried to stop Bastion, but he was gone, leaving the two mutants with a new concern.

The base shaded to a bright red as a timer began to count down. Joseph looked around and sighed. He seemed to make a decision himself. Closing his eyes briefly, he spread both arms and an electric blue bubble of something pulsed from him. It washed over the entire base and suddenly, the red light was extinguished.

Most of the lights too. The only lights that survived the EMP were the ones over the emergency exit signs. Say what one would; at least this place followed some safety protocol.

Joseph opened his eyes to a state almost completely dark. He could see the form of the formerly captive mutant nearby; but they weren't responding. "Excuse me," Joseph said somewhat awkwardly to the mutant. Still no response.

"M…Miss?" he asked, his eyes starting to adjust to the gloom. He realized that she had collapsed. 'Most likely unconscious,' he reasoned.

He had only just now returned to the base from patrolling, and during the shift debriefing had discovered what was conspiring beneath them. As their shift commander passed the photo around of the mutant captive downstairs, the bigoted, lewd, and frankly nauseating way the other men had talked about this woman, this X-Man, made his skin crawl and his stomach turn. And that was even before they began to talk about her as a mutant. He chose to infiltrate this place to discover more information about the enemy that hated those whose crime it was to just exist. But the task was becoming onerous. And seeing the image of that woman lashed to the frame woke something dark and ugly inside of him. He could abide this place no longer.

He didn't want it to explode though, and so he chose to use a wide EMP to knock out the electrical capacity. That may mean the place was now functionally useless from a modern standpoint, but these backwards people would have their lives. He reasoned they could decide to do something, anything they wanted, so long as he and this woman were far from it.

And who was this woman, Joseph asked himself as he gathered her in his arms. He had felt…a kinship to her when he looked at her, even in the grainy photographs and hastily prepared dossier. He didn't think it was because they were both mutants, or that he was searching for the X-Men…perhaps it was more? Something else? No matter right now; they were deep in enemy territory. He had to get to safety somewhere. Turning swiftly, he used his God given powers - and how good did it feel to use his abilities? It felt so correct, so right… He flew from the base, intent on bringing them both to safety. He could decide what to do after.

After.

Her head hurt. Rogue opened her eyes and sat up. Well, she tried to sit up, but she found herself with a large, decidedly unconscious, white haired man half-sprawled atop her. Memories swirled - even more than the last time she remembered. Her head felt heavier, full of new knowledge and she couldn't help it, she groaned. There was a small, angry part of her that wanted to kick him - 'Joseph, his name is Joseph' - but she refrained. She already had his mind in hers. She now saw what he did, and saw how…how little there was within. He remembered nothing beyond the past few weeks.

'Poor guy; he needs more help than Ah did.' she thought to herself.

"Oh…Woman…" Joseph groaned as he roused and began to pull away. He managed to sit up as he set his eyes on her. "What did you do to me?" Rogue felt a pang of memory, and in her heart. She saw him, Magneto, in another place, another time, when he asked the very same to her under certainly most different circumstances. She tried to clamp down on that familiar rush of panic. Now wasn't the time to fall apart. She had to keep it together, keep herself from falling apart. She could start by thanking him.

A memory flashed, from his perspective. They made it outdoors, and good mile from Humanity's Last Stand's fortress. They landed, and he knelt to put her on her back. She seemed to be breathing, but he - 'Me, Ah'm Rogue an' Ah'm in charge of me. - was worried she had been injured more than she had let on. His hand reaching out - 'No, not good, not gloved! - to touch her neck, the intent to feel her pulse. Pushing back the fabric and laying two fingers on her neck, then-

Nothing.

She most certainly needed to thank him. And she would also need to apologize.

"Well, y'see, it was an accident, an' Ah didn't mean-"

"Just a minute," he said curtly, cutting her off as he rose to his feet, scanning the wooded surrounding. She subsided, confused, but then she realized why. There was the sound of helicopters in the distance. They were coming.

"We should go," the man said and made to gather Rogue in his arms. "I beg your pardon," he said, as if insulted when she leaned backwards, out of reach. He put out both hands, as if to soothe a startled foal. "I mean you no harm, I only meant to-"

He broke off when she levitated into the air, understanding, then. If what she said about her powers was true, then it was best to be kept at an arm's length. For now. He had so many more questions.

Joseph nodded. "Follow me." They streaked off into the night, outpacing the men on the ground and those pursuing in helicopters alike with ease.

An hour later settling deep in a thick wood, they both felt safe enough to stop and compare notes. For Joseph, it didn't take long.

"...and after leaving Sister Maria, I traveled alone until I found a revival church. Curious, I asked some questions, and found disturbing undertones to the answers. After some swift indoctrination, I found myself here, patrolling three counties every night. There was talk about finding someone, someone big."

"I hadn't known anything more than that, that they were looking for you. My most sincere apologies; I would not ever expect their willingness to commit such heinous crimes would be so unchecked." Joseph looked at her, naked eagerness along with some desire for her to believe made him seem so earnest. So honest.

Such a conundrum to be in. Rogue wanted to bite her lip, but she couldn't be indecisive, not now. She had the entirety of their flight from the HLS compound to decide what to do, which tale, if any to choose. She made her decision when they touched down, and she'd go through with it.

Besides, even the Professor agreed; those people, that reality, that life didn't exist…right? She was stuck on deciding that for truth or lie, and instead of dwelling on it, she did what she always turned to first. She ran from that problem, with the intent on solving a different one. And best of all, this was someone else's issue.

"You…really don' remember anything before a few weeks ago?" she asked, and squared her shoulders when he confirmed it. "Alright…well…so first things first…"

This took longer on her end. When she finished he seemed to have a hundred more questions. She spent quite a while answering them, and when the sun came up she realized that they had spent the night together. She was tired; after that ordeal, who wouldn't be? But she could keep going, that was the important thing.

Joseph agreed to travel with her, to make their way back to the X-Men. She'd send the alarm for all the X-Men to reconvene; there was work to be done. The two rose into the sky, a new alliance born, but with uneasy hearts.

And they had a long way to go.