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Chapter 19 of
A Simple Favor:
Rogue felt herself coming to, but couldn't bring herself to move. Her skin was annoyingly itchy for some reason and her head was absolutely killing her. There was a high pitch beeping noise that kept going off every second– a heart monitor? Was she in the infirmary? Why? The last thing she remembered was being at the concert and waiting for Max to show up.
What happened to her? She tried to think about the concert but- her head hurt and she was so tired. Maybe, she could just go back to sleep for a little while and deal with it later?
"But she is recovering, right?" she heard Scott say, fromna distance.
"Yes, slowly," the Professor replied. "However, having all of those personalities driven out has left her very fragile and her toughest challenge still awaits her,"
'What?' she thought alarmed. 'No, no, the construct can't be gone- it's-,' she thought as the Professor's voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Coming to terms with who Risty really was and who Mystique really is," he said as she felt her stomach twist into knots.
'They know about Risty?' her thoughts panicked and raced as she forced her body to remain perfectly still. Her head was killing her, but she was awake now and if the Professor tried to read her mind, she would be able to feel it. But she didn't know what was going on- why was she in the infirmary? What had happened to her?
"I won't lie to ya, kid," she heard Logan say next. "Getting over this ain't gonna be easy. Something about betrayal always sticks with ya. But trust me, you learn to deal with it," he said as she felt him take her hand. "You move on and you let your real friends be there for ya," he said, as she felt tears forming in her eyes. She opened her eyes, tears streaming down her face as she forced herself to smile up at Logan.
He smiled back as he squeezed her hand.
"Hey, she's awake," Scott said excitedly as Logan smiled at her and squeezed her hand.
'Keep calm,' she told herself as she saw Scott enter the room. The Professor slowly followed after him and she felt her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him.
She had thought they were getting along. That the Professor didn't necessarily care about her relationship with Magneto, that it didn't matter. But had all of that been a lie?
If not, then why did he remove the personalities from her mind? Was it to get rid of the construct? And now that it was gone, had he already read her mind? What if he knew everything? What was she supposed to do? What was Magneto going to do when he found out? It was one thing for the Professor to assume he was right. As long as the construct was in place it didn't matter what he thought. But now that he could actually do something about it-
'Oh god,' she thought horrified as the heart monitor went crazy, each loud-pitched beep grew in succession and only added to her misery.
"Kid, ya alright?" Logan asked.
"No, she's terrified," the Professor said as came to sit next to her. "Scott, give us the room," he ordered. "Logan, turn that off, please?" he said, pointing at the heart monitor, as Scott swiftly exited the room, closing the door behind him.
"Terrified of what?" Logan asked as he reached over and switched off the heart monitor.
Rogue tried to control her breathing: 'Let out stress, let in relief,' she thought, closing her eyes, grateful to have one less thing hurting her head.
"Me, regrettably," he answered before she sucked in a breath.
"Chuck, what's that mean?" he asked as she opened her eyes to see Logan staring down at the Professor, his arms crossed over his chest.
"We don't have to discuss it right now," he said to Logan. "I propose," he said turning to her, "we wait for Max Eisenhardt to arrive," he said. She blinked a few times, not sure how to respond. Not sure if she could react. "Max called early this morning. He'll be here shortly," he informed her.
"Chuck," Logan growled under his breath. "We've been over this," he said.
"Yes, and you're still wrong," he said bluntly to Logan, before looking at her again. "Rogue, I know your lack of trust in me is my own doing. But I hope with enough time I may regain your confidence. I promise you, I will not read your mind without your consent. And if I haven't done so already, I offer my sincerest apologies for trying in the first place," he said.
She really wanted to believe him- but, he had- Max was on his way so- It was fine- at least she didn't have to call him.
"Prof, my head is killing me," she said.
"Alright," he said with a nod. "Let's get you some ibuprofen," he said as she closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.
On May 25th, 2002, around 09:30 am, Magneto stood in the institute's elevator, as Beast escorted him to the sublevels. He was armed with his image inducer, enough cologne to cover his scent, and a small leather satchel bag he wore over one shoulder. In it, he had his wallet and a few other miscellaneous items. He imagined he would be here for several hours and had prepared accordingly.
Once the elevator doors opened, Beast exited first and he swiftly followed after him, making their way down the hall. It didn't take long until he caught a glimpse of Rogue, in one of the infirmary's beds, which immediately set his blood boiling. He barely noted that Charles and Wolverine remained as he walked up to Rogue. He pulled his bag over his shoulder and dropped it unceremoniously onto the floor next to the bed as Rogue's eye fluttered open, a pained expression crossed her face.
"Are you alright?" he asked, forcing himself to keep the German accent present in his voice.
"Everything hurts," she sighed.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I don't remember anything after getting to the concert," she admitted, with pain and confusion on her face as she tried to recall a clear narrative.
"The news mentioned a mutant named Juggernaut," he said.
"What?!" Rogue exclaimed as she sat up fully.
"My brother wasn't present at the concert," Charles said quickly as both he and Rogue turned to look at Charles. "You absorbed Mystique and with her abilities shapeshifted into Juggernaut. We still don't understand it, but you had his powers as well," he said.
"Kid, you had everyone's powers," Wolverine added.
"Uncontrollably. You were cycling through them and it seemed as though all the individuals you had absorbed were fighting for control over your body. It was for that reason I had no choice but to remove them," Charles explained.
"All of them?" Rogue asked.
"Yes," Charles answered.
"Even the three humans?" she asked in disbelief, her eyes darting back and forth between him and Charles.
"Well-" Charles said, his voice faltering as Magneto watched him consider his argument.
"And you don't remember any of this?" Magneto asked her, salvaging the moment. She shook her head slowly before her forehead furrowed. She let out a groan as her head fell back against the pillow, her eyes closing.
If Charles had done this to her to acquire information about him- he was- He had to keep himself from visibility showing his anger.
"Yes, well, at the time, I did not see an alternative," Charles said defensively. "Max, you'll keep her company, I assume," he said, switching subjects rather quickly.
"Ja," Magneto agreed, eager for the two of them to leave the room so he and Rogue could speak unabated.
"Thank you," Charles said with a nod. "Logan, I suggest we get some rest," he said.
"Chuck, you go. I'm fine," he said.
"I really must insist," Charles said.
"I said I'm fine," Wolverine grunted as Magneto watched Charles, trepidation in his eyes.
"Very- very well," Charles said before he excused himself from the room.
"Alright, bub," Wolverine said as he stood. "I'm gonna need a favor from you," he said walking up to him.
"Logan, please don't," Rogue said, a much more direct attempt to dissuade the man.
"Kid, it's gonna be alright," Wolverine told her, before looking back at him. "Look, Chuck's got this idea in his head that you're someone you're not. I just need ya to let the Professor poke around your head for a minute to confirm it ain't true. Then we can all put this behind us," Wolverine said.
Magneto let out a sigh as he looked over at Rogue. She glanced up at him with apprehension, even as she fought to conceal the dread he knew she was experiencing in response to Wolverine's request. She was worried, rightfully so. There was a reason Charles had attempted to escort the other man out of the room. He felt a twinge of guilt. If he hadn't missed her call. If he had been available when she needed him, none of this might have happened. Instead, she suffered. For him.
"And who does he think I am?" he asked, maintaining his calm. He could still control this.
"Magneto," Wolverine answered.
"And who is he?" he deflected.
"He's an old friend of Chuck's. Not a fan of the X-Men," he answered, not one to mince words. A quality he usually appreciated though given the subject and the obvious need for secrecy, a quality that would not serve him well in this exchange. The shorter man looked up at him, his gaze as unyielding as the adamantium he could feel thrumming inside him even now.
"An enemy, then?" he asked.
"Yeah," he huffed.
"I must think," he said as he stepped away from Wolverine, noting that Rogue was watching the exchange. "I told your Professor I value my privacy. That has not changed," he said.
"Yeah, I heard ya too," Wolverine said.
"And yet, it is apparent I have been a constant subject of conversation. He believes I am his enemy and you do not. Assumptions such as these do not materialize out of thin air. What was done to obtain them?" he asked.
"Look, bub," Logan said, his tone telling Magneto instantly that Logan had no intention of answering his question.
"You wish for me to allow your professor into my mind and you think I am not entitled to understand why?" he asked, baffled.
"Some stuff happened right before you showed up," he said vaguely.
"Go on," he said.
"Rogue used her powers on Magneto and then- then she helped us find him and then we destroyed this machine he got ahold of," he said.
"He did not make this machine?" Magneto asked.
"He stole it," he said.
"From who?" he asked.
"Government agency. It doesn't matter," he said.
"And your Professor was contracted by this agency?" he asked.
"No, I was," he said.
"And this agency, are they aware that Rogue was the reason you found their property?" he asked as he heard Rogue suck in a breath.
"Yeah, look, Chuck told 'em, got a little overzealous about it," he said.
"About how useful mutants could be to the US government if only given the chance to prove their worth," Magneto said bitterly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rogue's eyes widening in fear and understanding. "I must refuse," he said.
"It ain't gonna be like that," Wolverine argued.
"You cannot know that," he said dryly as Wolverine continued to size him up. Magneto watched his nostrils flare before his eyes darted to Rogue's. The girl was afraid, he knew that and it seemed the brute had caught on as well. Wolverine looked back up at him, his eyes narrowing.
"Anyone ever tell ya, you wear too much cologne, bub?" he asked.
"Logan," Rogue said before she stopped herself from speaking further. Most likely, anything she could add would be tantamount to a confession, it was better to keep silent and allow him to handle this. Though he was still contemplating how best to do so.
A low growl escaped Wolverine as Magneto felt the adamantium sliding through his forearms, and emerge from between his knuckles before they shone naked in the sterile hospital light. Magneto had his senses honed in on his claws, if he attempted to strike at him, he wouldn't do any harm, he was certain of it. Now, how to react to avoid-
"Ya know," Wolverine said as Magneto met the man's gaze. "Most people would be pretty intimidated by this. Guess you ain't most people," he said before he took a step back and looked over at Rogue. "I'm gonna apologize to Chuck," he said with obvious reluctance in his voice as he retracted his claws. "You alright being alone with him?"
"He's my friend," Rogue said meekly.
"Some friend ya got there," he grunted before he headed towards the door. Magneto watched Wolverine keep his eyes on him as he walked towards the exit. Wordlessly, the brute left the room.
Magneto looked over at Rogue, her mouth hung open slightly as if she wanted to say something. He held his hand up, telling her to postpone as he tracked Wolverine's movements. The girl obeyed as he felt the man board the elevator and only lowered his hand once the lift had ascended.
"I'm sorry," Rogue said.
"This isn't your fault," Magneto replied immediately, dropping the accent. "I shouldn't have taken four hours to receive your message," he said.
"When you didn't pick up I- I thought about telling Prof about Risty, but-"
"You decided against it," he said as he walked over to the chair Wolverine had used.
"Yeah, I just-" she stumbled as he pulled the chair to his hand, turned it, and sat down next to Rogue. "I thought I only needed ya to confirm that she didn't have a gun and then everything else could go back to the way it was," she explained.
"Mystique had other plans, evidently," he said.
"I don't know," she shrugged. He held her gaze for a long moment before sighing and turning away from her. He felt - perturbed and uncertain about how to proceed.
He pressed his senses upwards and knew that Charles and Wolverine were on the highest floor of the mansion, in Charles's bedroom. He felt the cufflinks in Charles's suit move simultaneously, in a placating gesture. While Wolverine stood over Charles, given the placement of his jaw, he surmised they were arguing.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath. "I won't ask you for details, just your opinion," he said as she stared up at him, clearly ill at ease and in pain. "Do you believe Charles caused the events that led to the destruction of the construct?" he asked.
"I hope not," she sighed. "We were getting along better since the ceasefire and I know for a fact that he ain't the one who's been trying to get in my head," she said.
"Charles thinks it's Mesmero. Is there any validity to that claim?" he asked.
"Maybe," she shrugged. "But I know it ain't Prof," she said.
"That's something," he admitted. "And he did give us privacy to speak. He easily could've forced someone else's company on us," he said.
"Yeah," she said before closing her eyes, a look of agony crossing her features.
"Have you felt any attempts since you regained consciousness?" he asked.
"No," she mumbled.
"And if Charles is being truthful, then he monitored the situation throughout the night," he said as he scanned his senses upward again. Wolverine had left Charles' room and his chair was now empty. He sensed the metal coils of the mattress were compressed and knew Charles had taken to bed. Just as he said he would.
"For what it's worth, he said he ain't gonna read my mind and I'm- I ain't giving him permission," she said strongly.
"I know," he said with an appreciative nod. "I overheard an exchange between him and Beast. He said the same thing to him," he informed her.
"Logan knows," she said softly.
"He can't prove it. Neither can Charles. Given the ceasefire, I might have considered dropping the act- however-"
"He told SHIELD," Rogue finished his thought.
"Unfortunately," he said.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked, looking to him for guidance.
"First and foremost, you heal," he said. "We'll deal with the rest as it comes," he said before she let out a sigh of relief, closing her eyes. "I'll have time to finish Dracula, at the very least," he said as he reached out his hand and pulled the satchel bag to his hand.
"What chapter are you up to? Six or seven?" she asked as he flipped open the front of the bag and pulled out his copy of the novel.
"I've finished six," he answered with a raised eyebrow, as he hung the bag on the back of the chair. "How?" he asked.
"Just keep reading," she said before letting out a sigh. "I'm gonna get some sleep," she said.
"Of course," he said before he opened up to where he left off at the top of chapter seven. Without another word exchanged between them, they both picked up where they had left off.