The biting cold greeted the group as they stepped from the warmth of the safehouse into the harsh frigidity of Alaska. The sudden change in atmosphere was something to adjust to, even for super-powered beings.
The towering factory stood as a daunting and eerie reminder of how far they had fallen from Krakoa, once a place where machines had been built to destroy them. Scott and the others who had been based here in Alaska had turned it into a makeshift home, but even that hadn't lasted long, especially since most of them were now at the safehouse in upstate New York.
"Stay alert. No telling what kind of traps we're walking into." Scott warned.
"Do you think he knows we're comin'?" Rogue asked.
"I'd rather err on the side of caution." Scott responded.
"You cover on the ground, ah'll give y'all an aerial view." Rogue took to the skies, even as Kurt and Scott shared a look of concern for her well-being.
She flew up until she was level with the top of the tower, flying around the perimeter to look for any sign of traps in the form of explosives or trip wires. Nothing yet, but that didn't necessarily mean Joseph wasn't waiting for them.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she watched as someone, looking exactly like Magnus, sitting in a wheelchair of sorts made his way onto the roof by way of an elevator door.
His eyes found hers from beneath the helmet, and the recognition she saw was not accompanied with malice or anger, but rather resignation.
"Hello, Rogue." Joseph spoke in a croaky tone.
"Do ya know why ah'm here, Joseph?" She asked him.
"I suspect it has something to do with my….genetic original." He spoke the words carefully.
"If ah come down there to talk to ya, are ya gonna attack me, or are we gonna have a civil discussion?" She asked.
"Attack you? Never." He stated.
"Well, ah reckon you got a few minutes before Cyclops and the others barrel in here and try to start a fight." She landed softly on the roof, and slowly, slowly, walked towards him.
"Then I suppose I ought to make the best of what time we have, yes?" He asked.
"Don't get cute with me. I ain't here for that kinda reunion. You know why ah'm here." She stated.
"You found Magnus."
"Ah almost killed him pullin' him out of that godforsaken place. What ah wanna know is why the hell you got caught up in that."
"Did you really think I had a choice?"
"There's always a choice, Joseph. What made this the better option?"
"Truthfully, there was no better option. Only how fast or slowly I would die again."
That made her stop. Scott had mentioned that Magneto- or rather Joseph- had been experiencing what they thought was some sort of post-resurrection sickness.
"...Tell me what happened, Joseph. Help me understand."
"Astra resurrected me once more. But unlike last time, where I could easily overpower her, she made a fatal flaw in the genetic code. Told me that I could die a quick death, or die slowly and painfully and make everyone believe that Magneto had died in Alaska, ensuring no one knew where he was."
She was stunned. "Why on Earth would you choose that?"
"By my calculations, if I had done as she asked, I would be dead a month from now, as would the real Magnus. But I wanted to give someone the chance to figure it out."
That phrase had her tilting her head. "...that's why you told Cyclops not to tell anybody. You were hopin' someone would figure it out and come lookin'."
"A similar motivation was behind the letter to Pietro Maximoff."
"What letter?"
"He did not tell anyone?"
She shook her head in confusion. "First ah'm hearin' of it."
"I forged Magnus' handwriting. Made it look real. Made it look like the boy's father wrote it. Told him…..told him that he wasn't worthy."
Her face fell. "You son of a-"
"I didn't mean a word of it. Surely you know that."
"Do I?" She asked defensively.
"Rogue, when have I ever lied to you?"
"No, don't you pull that card with me, Joseph!" She pointed a finger at him, stepping closer. "You don't get to do that."
"Don't get to what? Bring up how I felt about you? How I still feel for you?"
"Ah'm married, Joseph. How you feel about me don't mean nothin'."
He stilled. "To who?"
"None of your business."
"Am I not allowed to congratulate the man who won your heart?"
That gave her pause. She sighed, shaking her head with a chuckle. "You sound just like-"
"Just like him? So it is not Magnus who earned that title then."
She was quiet. "No. Magnus….Magnus ain't my husband. Remy LeBeau is."
He seemed surprised. "And are you happy with him?"
"Of course, ah'm happy with him! Why would you ask that?" She asked in a defensive tone.
"Because your words and your eyes tell me different things."
She sighed in frustration. "Well do excuse me for not bein' sunshine and rainbows when I'm tryin' to clean up this mess that Astra and Xavier left. This ain't about Remy, it's about how you took part- unwillingly, according to you- in imprisonin' my friends. People ah care about, Joseph."
"And whether I took part or not, the same goal would have been achieved. At least this way, I had a chance of stopping it."
"Well, did ya?"
"Magneto is alive, yes? The prisoners have been liberated?"
"Yes. And it will be weeks before he'll be well again."
"But he will live. They all will. And that was the goal I had."
"...you were buyin' time."
"Borrowing. And the debtors are now here to collect, I'm afraid."
She could see how frail he appeared, the blue eyes looking more aged than she had ever seen. She stepped closer, kneeling down to his level.
"Does she know you tried to sabotage it?"
"If she doesn't, she will assume I did anyway. The prison was leveled. She will be found eventually, I'm sure. It's only a matter of time-" He doubled over in pain, and Rogue reached out with gloved hands to hold him steady.
"Easy…..easy, ah gotcha…."
Just as she spoke those words, Cyclops and the others burst through the door on the roof, and she held out a hand in their direction.
"Stand down! Back up!" She commanded. "He's not a threat to us."
"Is he hurt?" Cyclops asked.
"He's dyin'..." She held onto Joseph, who was having trouble breathing, laying him across her lap as she tried to keep him comfortable. "Joseph….sugah, it's okay….it's okay….." She did her best to console him.
"I…..should have never….." He began.
"Shhhh….don't talk…."
"Should….have never….left the mansion…..never left you…." He confessed.
The back of her eyes were burning. "It was a long time ago, Joseph. It wasn't your fault."
He chuckled weakly. "Lost my chance…." He reached up and touched her hair, careful not to touch her skin. "You….were the best thing…." His breath suddenly stopped, and his hand fell limp, his eyes glazing, his face relaxing.
Her eyes widened as she realized that he had met his end, and the tears came unbidden, as she reached up and slowly closed his eyes.