Remy finds himself out of his depth, for once, when his new team shows him the Danger Room. It was their leader, Cyclops, really. He had been none too keen on allowing a former (loose use of the word) criminal thief among their ranks. He was mutant and already trained pretty well in the art of sneaking, thieving, and fighting. He was careless and a flirt, and not forthcoming about his activity before arriving in New York. These things fundamentally bothered the freedom fighter, trained for years in the art of ethics by professor Charles Xavier. What he saw in some of their prospects (often coming and going to forge their own lives after a while) was beyond him. Scott was certain there were plenty of mutants to draft without criminal records.
He'd said time and time again once Rogue had settled in, that her circumstances were different. And the southern youth was likely the exception to the rule and not an example of it. 'Anyone who wants to can be rehabilitated, Scott.' Charles had said in exasperation, his first and most diligent student sounding like a broken record. Experienced or not, Gambit would have to train to his satisfaction and had a lot to prove before he called himself an 'X-Man'.
"I'm not so sure he takes this seriously, Jean." The brunette had said, dialing up the skill level of the infamous Danger Room. The ginger senses his pettiness a mile away and is not thrilled by it when the cajun begins to sweat, struggling to beat off robots in the destroyed city simulation. Eventually, the androids gang up on the lanky mutant, chasing him down smoking alley ways while the rest of the team watched from the observation deck.
"What, jealous of his good looks, Scottie?" Logan took a generous swig of his beer, hood slipped down as the shaded-man turned to glare at him (and Jean stifled her laughter).
"Seeing if he's ready to join missions, Wolverine."
"Ya already know he is!" Rogue jumps in, biting her tongue no longer as she watches the blatant hazing. She had no tolerance for bullies, and this behavior was so unlike her boy scout of a leader. "Ya just want to embarrass him! Bein' a sterotypical man."
"I'm not embarrassing anybody, Rogue." He answers as though speaking to a child having a tantrum. "He said he could handle whatever I threw at him." The room began to buzz and red flashing lights blared. The New Orleans native found himself covered in bright, orange paint as the replicas of the Friends Of Humanity levied guns at him.
"Target acquired."
Scott frowns when he sees the angry tears glittering in Rogue's eyes. She had a temper for injustice that made her a great X-Man, he just isn't sure why it's been levied at him for being a thorough leader. "Not like you to be such a jerk!" She slammed on the button for the door and flew down flights of steps to the waiting southerner.
"Jerk? End simulation." Morph's nasally laugh makes the insult hurt even worse as eyes land on the tall brunette. 'Jean? Am I being a jerk? I treat everyone the same!'
'Oh, Scott...'
"Where Ah'm from," The shapeshifter says taking the leech's form and waggling a finger. "We'd tie you to the tallest tree in the swamp and leave ya there for that!" Jean could only hold her head in her hands as the feral barked a rare laugh.
"Pretty good, Morph. I think I have heard her say that, before." The real Rogue had landed at the thief's side, peering at him in concern as he frowned at the mess the Danger Room had made.
"Seems like a messy way to train, non? How much Xavier spend on maids?" His smile is genuine when the girl offered her gloved hand, even with the paint covering him. He feels a way he's never felt before when he accepts. With her looks, he forgets how strong she is as she hoists him up. Stunning and petite, but also one of the strongest members of the team.
"The Danger Room can be overwhelmin' the first few times you try it. My first time, Ah flew out of here screamin'. Storm and Wolverine had to fetch me back." She tells him sheepishly. "You'll get used to it."
"Gambit sure he will..."
"C'mon. Maybe after you get cleaned up, Ah can show you some of my favorite places on campus. Where Ah like to train, an' where Ah go for a little peace." She fiddled with silver locks as the thief examined her really well with dark eyes. So beautiful. So strong. But what amazed him was how kind she managed to be, in a chaotic place like this school. He had been a rolling stone all of his life. But, she was giving him a few reasons to give the team a chance.
"You can take Gambit wherever you want, chére. Would like that." She tapped his shoulder playfully and disappeared through the doors, leaving him standing there, stunned.
"It seems others may be able to teach Gambit more about being an X-Man than you, Scott." The weather priestess' words make him raise an eyebrow.
"Et tu, Storm..."
"...Rogue? Is... Your Danger Room like this one?" It was just as weird for the Mississippi native to be receiving the tour as it was for Scott to give it. She seemed close to Storm's age as she examined him in his uniform. A veteran hero with plenty of knowledge and experience to give him. He felt like she should be showing him things he doesn't know yet as they toured the Danger Room's observation deck. There was no telling what memories were being dragged up for her. He wasn't even certain that their mutations worked the same way. The older X-Man was not ready to divulge information about her past or her time, yet. And, if she'd ended up in an entirely new universe, the leader is willing to bet something terrible had happened.
"Oh, shucks." She'd had lots of conversations and even met mutants she hadn't met in her time (as Rogue's best friend Kitty Pryde is devastated). "Ah don't think Ah told you. Call your Rogue, Rogue. Y'all can call me Anna... Anna Marie. Whatever variation suits you." Logan had already taken to 'Marie' to distinguish his name for her. Most everyone else two-named her. She can see the reflection on his face, even with his eyes hidden by a visor. Would his friend ever know her real name? Did Mystique name her? Change it? Erase it from her memory?
"Anna Marie... Suits you." Below, the teams were running normal droid drills in a simulation. Rogue watched for a moment as the younger version of herself tried not to be disturbed by her presence up above. She didn't seem to have any sort of powers but her absorption, but she could still handle herself pretty well as she and Remy knocked back most of the robots with hand to hand. She stood in a pink, long sleeve dress that Jean had donated to her (that she loved to everybody's surprise) and a black skin suit underneath.
"Ah'm not half-bad, down there. None of y'all are, just..." She tried to imagine the control panel as she scratched her head. "Y'all don't got harder settin's?" Back home, they started the morning with Apocalypse and Mastermold drills.
"Well, I-I mean... Any harder would be Wolverine's restrictive courses. Which I have beaten, of course..."
"Well... Ah think it's just swell y'all have started trainin' so young. That was the professor's dream, alright." It almost comforted her that somewhere, it came true. But, what was waiting for this school's future? Massive sentinels and green lasers in her memory make her rise to hover. Itching to escape. "All this tourin' really just makes me want to fly."
"Fly... Right, your powers... Are different." She's very grateful when Storm and Jean join them on the observation deck. Cyclops had a knack for digging for the truth, like a dog. "I know you have ethical qualms about telling us stuff about your time. But-"
"There you are. I'm surprised he didn't make you run the drill." Scott's cheeks burn red when his girlfriend speaks and all the women laugh. This Rogue's arrival reminded him of the all-girls gang the X-Women made when they were all teenagers. They just seem to understand each other really well, already. He's horribly outnumbered and felt like he needed to brush up on his feminism.
"Hard to make me do stuff, sugah. Thanks so much for all the old clothes y'all don't need! They're stunnin'."
"It was our pleasure. You should be comfortable here, for however long." Ororo looks at the woman warmly when she examined dark gloves. "Can't be in uniform all the time."
"This school is so lovely. But, if y'all don't mind..." She ruffled thick, long, curly hair with her hand and grinned. "Ah kinda feel like a fly, right now. Keeps my head on straight. Best remedy Ah've found." She worried for the moment a psychic needed to help her with her psyches. The stuff that was in there could easily break even the most powerful telepaths. And going after Sinister had been a nice distraction, she hadn't dealt with a lot of what she experienced. Not by a long shot. Her heart felt like it weighed 100 tons.
"Of course, we understand." The redhead is quick to say, standing in her black and lime green uniform.
"Well... I mean, certainly you can handle yourself." Scott clears his throat for the nerve to keep talking. "There could be enemies, watching us, though. We're all in danger when we separate-"
"Do you have the communicator Wolverine and I gave you?" Ororo speaks right over the leader's flustered words, understanding the need for a quick flight.
"Course Ah do. Won't be long, jus' stretching my wings. Scott," She placed a gloved finger to her lip and thought about how not to crush his ego. "Keep workin' on your leader voice. Eventually, you get it." He feels five years old as she hovered slowly away from them down the stairs.
"She's a woman, Scott." Jean can't help but say. Not his impulsive, upstart, younger teammate.
"Maybe you should be more focused on what she can teach us... Show us. Not leading her..." The weather goddess reminds patiently. Her Scott was a man, no matter how good of a job this one did.
"Yeah. Her brain is categorizing me in the same way as puppies. Great."
'You're a big, strong man to me, babe.'
'Gee... Thanks...'
Rogue wandered until she found a balcony on the second floor, left free with her thoughts until she realized somebody else was out there. 'Erik...'
"Are you adjusting, here?" She feels a chill when he turns to look at her, the wind rippling his cape. "It relieved Charles a great deal that you came back..." She almost expects him to say her name, her real name. But, she clearly does not know this Magneto the same way she used to. He knew things even her dear friends hadn't discovered. Knew the feel of her skin... Her deepest fears. The Polish mutant sees it all in her eyes, but he has no idea how he was connected to her in another life. This time's version of her could barely stand that he came to the institute. That Charles trusted him. Hadn't forgiven him for what he'd done to his daughter.
"Little by little... It's not home, but it's the next best thing." He doesn't object when she stood next to him and marveled at the cloudless sky.
"Why do I get the feeling that I knew you well in another life, Rogue. I saw it. In your eyes..." She is grateful that all Magneto's are straight shooters and on an endless quest for the truth. She is sure he and Charles separated and opposed each other, for some time. But, their prevailing friendship brought them back together as it always does. She was seeing right through him in a way he had never experienced. He avoided green eyes and studied her hands when she pulled off her gloves.
"That's... That's because we do. Mystique... Mystique got to me here when Ah was much younger, didn't she?" It's hard to imagine a woman like her in control of a child.
"Yes. She'd been controlling Rogue's life since she was a small child. It was of her own volition to defect to the X-Men." The woman nodded, mulling over her words carefully.
"And, Ah take it any partnership with her didn't last long." She can tell by the way the man's brow furrows at her mention.
"Not at all."
"Well, we were on the same side of the tracks for a while. And... Ah wasn't her age, but Ah was much younger. Naive. So confused under my mama's guidance... My powers, Ah didn't understand." Erik expects she can hear his heart beating when she stood and faced him, unflinchingly. A sad expression in beautiful eyes. "She took me to you for help. She told me you were the smartest man and mutant she knew. And you were," She can see the many thoughts racing in his white-shrouded head. Had he been a svengali in this time? Pilfering young mutants from his dear friend and grooming them? "You taught me to see strength in a power that was only a burden. To never fear, because of what Ah was born as. Make an electromagnetic field, please Erik... Ah'll show you better than Ah could ever tell."
Stunned, he revealed a hand and watched in astonishment as their skin met. She did not absorb him, like her younger counterpart had on a few occasions. "Ah think you're one of the only mutants who can touch me."
"..."
"Anna, you can call me. Anna Marie."
"Tell me, that what I did-"
"Never. You shaped me into the woman I am, and Ah was grateful for it. Our paths diverged, but..." There had always been a place for him nestled deep in her heart. No matter how hidden it was.
"This shows how very little we truly understand about other times... Other versions of ourselves. That, we could be so distant here and so close in another life..." It is hard to break contact, the man confused with how this encounter left him feeling. "This... Connection confuses me. I do not know what you know, but I do feel it. Anna... As a man who had long since given up hope to feel this way, again." The validation makes her heart flutter, until she remembers the Erik she had laid beside was gone. Her mentor. Her protector. Lost on Genosha. He sees the look of a woman haunted by trauma words can't explain. Everyday, he lived with that, too. Maybe, this is how they'd grown close. The girl's exceptional ability to understand. To hold compassion, even for those who might not deserve it.
She turned away suddenly when she felt like doing something that could alter this time, forever. "Need to clear my head. Bein' here... Seein' things... Bringin' stuff up Ah didn't expect."
"As it does." He doesn't waste his words convincing her to stay. She would be back on her own time. She was not an insecure girl, but a woman who had lived a thousand lifetimes. Someone who might one day understand his deepest complexities and fears. He watched her form disappear onto the horizon.
"Magnus..." If Charles had seen any of their exchange, his face doesn't show it as he rolled into the library behind him. "I felt you, across the campus." If it were anyone else, the holocaust survivor might be embarrassed. It was an odd look on his face when he turned to face the wheelchair bound mutant.
"Do you have a moment, to listen to me?" Different versions of him prevailed, connected with others, and pursued dreams he'd kept locked in his head. They wouldn't stay wishes much longer.
"Always, my friend. Always."
It didn't take this foreign Rogue long to find the 'shadows' the note on her door described. Only one person could be so in the know about her arrival, and it had to be the shapeshifter that took her in. Her feelings and relationship to her own mother had been complicated, but she can tell from the look on her counterpart's face that it was far more complicated in this reality. This Raven was bold. Maybe, anticipating the fiasco that brought her here. Her own mother had been willing to sell her to Apocalypse to be 'close' to her, so she knows not to let her guard down as the street lamps started to become less common.
This rundown area reminds her of where the Morlocks hid underground, away from the general population. She isn't surprised when a lean body moved from the dark alley way.
"Daughter..." Mystique isn't brought to shock and awe often, but this is such an occasion as the strong woman turned to face her with a straight face.
"Oh, come on, now. Ah ain't your daughter. A whole other messed up version of you raised me!"
"Oh Rogue, you are my child in every life. Do you think my Destiny only saw one Rogue? You are so pivotal and integral to every universe." The mention of the prophet makes the southern woman frown, unnerved how quickly the blue mutant approached her despite knowing of her strength. All she ever had were two mothers, different like her. "She knew all about you, too." The X-Man batted angrily at her hand when she reached up to touch a curly, silver wisp of her hair with a rueful grin. So much potential. The culmination of another hers hard work. "Look at you..." This Mystique seemed harder, from her physique to her dark state of dress. Rogue's original mother always floated around in white, like a mourning ghost. She'd taken so many forms and lived so many lives, she did not remember her original one.
"And what about Kurt, mama? He's awful young to be livin' with Xavier. Toss him off a cliff to make an easier get away? To make your life easier?" These scathing words cannot hurt the blue woman, not anymore. "You're all the same! No matter how many chances you get!"
"He didn't need me! How can I make you understand that?" The southerner is on edge when Mystique started to pace and circle her, making her feel cornered despite flight and strength. "He always finds a family to love him. To take care of him. To teach him faith and religion! Giving him up was the best option, every time!"
"He was just a boy, Raven! A helpless baby, your baby! And ya tossed him to the sea to go lookin' for me." Her unique powers were far more exploitable than the teleporter's.
"And I was to just leave you?" The cold look in feline eyes makes Rogue step back, in shock of how much this shapeshifter could know. The redhead pressed forward with a scathing look. "No mother. A father, who put his hands where no father's should go?" The tanned woman covered her ears in horror, dark memories plaguing her every thought. She can still hear his voice, smell the stale beer on his breath...
"Stop it! Ya got nothin' to do with my life! You took that girl as a child for your own benefit. And Ah'll never believe otherwise."
"Do you think her life was so different? You remember what happened once your powers manifested. Destiny saw it, too. I took that girl to spare her. And I made the decision to remove her earliest memories via telepath to protect her. It doesn't matter what you think!" The mother had nearly laid a hand on the tall woman's shoulder when she swiped at her, tears welling in her eyes. "I have made my mistakes... But, when it comes to you-"
"Liar. Both of ya just lie!" Mothers didn't trade their daughters to great evils. Rip them from their families with no explanation. Use them to accomplish evil political agendas.
"I know you won't think so. But, you wouldn't have been able to survive what you've gone through without taking those powers, permanently. You have to help me-" At those words, Rogue raised a parked car like it was a piece of paper, her eyes ablaze. Her scheming actions had killed an Avenger. Locked her inside the prison of her mind, forever. Turned the young girl into a killer, before she ever knew who she was. Hell would freeze over before she 'helped' her doom this daughter the same way. "My Rogue isn't strong like you!"
"Ah'm not strong...." Bitterly, she wiped at the tears in her eyes after abandoning the vehicle. She couldn't give her mother the satisfaction of taking her outside of herself. "Ah'm walkin' in the skin of another woman. Forever. And Ah have to live with that, until judgement day."
"She was a bigot, Anna Marie. She was for Mutant Registration and wouldn't bat an eye to see your people massacred! She deserved it!" The shapeshifter leapt out of the way of a dumpster and rose to her feet. "My Rogue isn't going to survive the things coming as she is! Apocalypse has already been here! Tried to enslave her, used her for his ascension. Just ask any of them!"
"She is strong, Raven. She survived you, and chose justice without bein' pushed to the brink of her humanity. Ah am sure about one thing. She would never... Ever want-" A dark blur tackles the shapeshifter by surprise and they go sprawling onto asphalt. Grunting in frustration, Mystique very narrowly missed an uncovered, pale hand.
"Ah knew it! Ah found the note, mama! Ah knew you just wouldn't be able to stay away!" Screaming, the blue woman flipped her younger daughter over her and rose quickly, eyeing them both.
"You followed me?" The tall woman cannot believe this smaller version of herself would be so bold or fearless.
"Ah know all her tricks, by now. Just startin' to piece together her filth in my head." The goth glowered in dark pants and a dark green, long-sleeve shirt. "Not so easy to take her, is it?" It was a nice changed to see the assassin out of her depth.
"I was never coming here to take her, just to warn her-"
"Save it," The older Rogue says coldly with crossed arms. "Don't you show your blue face around here, again."
"You being here is a sign of all the danger we are all in. You would do well to heed my advice, and listen to me." A fang bears when the assassin realizes how stubborn both of children are. There would be no painlessly convincing them of anything. 'Fine then. The hard way.'
"Ain't nobody listenin' to your lies, Mystique. Ah came to set you straight, not listen to what ya had to say!" Both mutants watched as she transformed into a raven and took off into the sky, the sun starting to set. The older of the two chased the goth's stare when she turned away, arms crossed. "Ah didn't need your help, but Ah sure do appreciate it. She's crazier than a cat in a room full of rockin' chairs!"
Rogue half-smiled at the turn of phrase. "Trust me, nothin' good happens when you underestimate her. That's how she thrives." A suspicious visage replaced her expression, lips scrawled blue as she examined around then. "We're lucky it was just her. She's usually always packin' heavy artillery."
"That sounds like the evil mama Ah remember. Luckily for me, she makes herself pretty rare at home." The pale girl snorted at that, wishing for the same luxury.
"Yeah, cause you could pound her into the lawn like a fence post." Both southerners chuckle, and then the awkward moment resumes between them like a breeze. "Anna... Anna Marie, right?" The taller woman tucked silver and auburn curls behind her ear with a nod. She didn't remember being so small and so young. Her organic memories were swallowed by trauma. The agony of her home life and touching powerful people. It felt like there was more of other people inside her head than herself. "Is that what your parents named you? Did... You ever see them again, after she took you? Do you think..." Rogue feels embarrassed when tears well in her eyes. She'd spent many a night crying and wondering who she was, there was no point now. "Do you think that's my name, too?"
"Sugah, to be honest... Ah don't know. It's hard to be open when... When any little thing Ah say could open up the worst can of worms, here." When the teenager held herself, however, Anna Marie steeled her face and picked through long-buried memories. "Mystique didn' take me. Not from home, Ah left. When Ah was a little younger than you..." She searches grey eyes and wonders if she can take the truth. "My powers manifested, when Ah kissed my school crush, Cody. He's... He's still in a coma, to this day..." A white lie would be better than trying to explain her hellish last encounter with him, a brood of space-faring aliens who coopted his body to trick her. "That was bad enough, but then... My daddy found out that Ah was different. Mama... Mama was already gone..."
"He disowned you." Rogue fills in quietly, her mind still blank but understanding how she felt, completely. Charles had said her memories of a father figure were tied in a knot, one he dared not carelessly poke.
"Yes, Ah was sixteen with nowhere to go and poison skin. Mystique didn't have to take me. She took an unassumin' form and fed me. Bathed me. 'Loved' me. That's how Ah got in league with her, before Ah realized what side of all of this she was on. But... It could be different, for you. She made it difficult for you to tell on purpose. But," Rogue marveled at the brown gloves covering the woman's hands. "That doesn't mean you'll never find your answers, Rogue. In fact... Ah'm quite sure you will. Anyone who survived her with their sense of self in tact, can do anythin'."
"Thank you. For tellin' me. It ain't my story, but just hearin' yours..." Both leeches look up when they hear the familiar roar of the X-Jet docking nearby. "It gives me hope."
"You're lucky you got so many people who care about you, kid." If she had found Charles before Mystique, maybe Carol Danvers would be alive. Maybe, she would've accepted her touchless plight, by now.
"Rogue?! Marie? Everythin'..." Logan sniffs, but he can't sense anyone else around the two women. His clone is behind him, mimicking his posture to investigate the strange scene.
"Alright? We got worried when you were both gone." Scott finishes, scanning the dim alleyway with diminished vision. He has a few guesses what had dragged them both from the campus.
"We are just glad you both took your communicators, so we didn't panic." Ororo says with a smile, relieved to see the two together. Anna Marie studied the full jet's worth of inhabitants with a raised eyebrow.
"A full plane ain't panickin'?"
"Sorry, just like... Some of us get kidnapped more than others." Kitty explained sheepishly.
"Rogue and Jean the-" Bobby's silenced by a scathing glare from the redhead. "I.. I mean we've all been kidnapped at least once..."
