Scott Summers was definitely eating a lot of humble pie lately. His wife, his ex-wife, the Cassidys, and a few quiet stares told him that he had a long road to walk before he would gain trust again amongst his fellow mutants.

He knocked on Sage's door, and should have been prepared for the likelihood that it was not Sage who opened the door, but the imposing Arkady Rossovich, codename Omega Red. The Russian quietly stood there for a moment, and Sage's voice called.

"It's okay, Arkady. You can let him in."

Arkady moved aside, and Scott made his way into the room, watching as Sage, who had apparently been asleep, got up from the bed, and wrapped herself in a robe.

"I didn't realize you were still in bed."

"It's fine. But this conversation is not just for your ears. I don't feel like repeating myself, and I need coffee. Walk with me."

With coffee in hand, Sage knocked softly on the door before entering, finding Rogue and Magneto both awake. Pietro was in the room, checking on his father, and had brought Rogue a coffee and some breakfast.

Odd. Where's Gambit?

"How's he feeling?" Sage asked Rogue.

"Well, he's a sight better than yesterday. Hank hasn't come by yet."

"You think I can steal you away for a moment? It's important."

Secluded in a makeshift conference room, Cyclops listened to Sage speak as he stood at the window.

"What Madelyne told you is true. Xavier attacked the Warden, thinking she was threatening Legion."

"But….was she?" Rogue asked.

Sage shook her head. "Warden was threatening Cable."

Cyclops chuckled slightly. "Yeah, good luck with that."

"That was what Madelyne was about to say before it all went to hell." Sage confirmed.

"So….before that, were you able to figure out why the Warden was helpin' him?" Rogue asked.

"Yup. Turns out Xavier was a puppet. They wanted his telepathic influence, both to draw mutants to Graymalkin, and to combine with Magneto's powers to create the collars."

"Who would stand to gain using Xavier like that?" Cyclops asked.

"Do you want a list, or was that a rhetorical question?" Sage raised a brow.

"Sage." Rogue gently chided.

"Sorry. We're all tired, and it's not gonna be a pretty road ahead. You're not gonna like what we found."

"Who's behind it, Sage?" Cyclops asked.

"...Astra." She uttered. "Which means our imposter in Alaska…."

Rogue froze. "...Joseph?"

"That's a theory. But it could be anyone at this point. But I don't know of many people who can duplicate Magneto's memories and powers."

Cyclops sighed. "But why would Astra want to help Xavier? Making a clone of Magneto I get. Xavier…."

"...she promised him something she couldn't deliver. She took advantage of his ill state. Promised that if he cooperated with the Trasks, she would get him to the Shi'ar Empire."

"And because the tumor was affectin' him so, he wasn't in a state to make any kind of decisions." Rogue supplied.

"Including reaching out to Magneto for help." Scott added.

Rogue paused. "Did you know?"

There was a long pause. "That Xavier was alive this whole time? Yes. That he pulled a Parent Trap move with Magneto? No." Cyclops admitted.

Rogue held her head in her hands. "Scott, why didn't you say anythin'?"

"There was too much at risk, Rogue. I had to be sure that any moves we made towards Xavier were the right one, so no one got killed."

"And that should have been a shared decision, Scott. Not solely yours." Sage sternly stated.

"You sound like Madelyne." He muttered.

"Well, maybe that should tell ya somethin', Scott. Because all three of us are in agreement. If you knew that Xavier was part of the puzzle, you should have clued us in. We are all X-Men, not just you."

"This wasn't about turning this into the cool kids club, Rogue! This was-" He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Sage went still. "You were trying to protect her."

Rogue looked confused. "Protect who?"

"You, Rogue." Sage stated.

Rogue was stunned. "Me? But why?"

He paused. "Do you remember the last thing Xavier said to you? When Krakoa fell?" Scott asked.

"He said he wanted me to avenge Krakoa…." She answered thoughtfully.

"And a man as unstable as Xavier? Who knows what that could have meant."

Something stuck out to her in that moment.

"That's why you didn't want him near me, at the prison. You….you thought he was gonna try somethin'."

"I didn't want anyone else to be his child soldier." Scott admitted.

That hit hard. His fears, his paranoia, they had been founded in his experiences, in the years of being, essentially, Xavier's successor.

He didn't want anyone else to be groomed the way he had.

Rogue stood. "Scott…" She walked closer to him. "Ah get where you're comin' from. Truly ah do. But bein' part of the X-men means you gotta trust me to make those decisions for myself, and trust all of us with the truth."

He nodded. "I swear I didn't know he was going to lock Erik up like that."

"Did you know that he went to see Charles?" Sage asked.

"...yes."

Rogue swore under her breath. "God dammit, Scott."

"That's the thing. When he came back, he seemed fine. There was nothing to indicate that a switch had been made. The only thing that changed was when the Sentinels attacked in Alaska."

"When 'Magneto' lost control?" Sage asked.

"Yeah."

"Hold on, he what?" Rogue asked incredulously. "You mean whoever is actin' as Magnus is incapacitated?"

"We thought he was experiencing some sort of post-resurrection sickness. He's been in a wheelchair for weeks."

"Okay, ah get that that's not the real Magneto, but when were you plannin' on tellin' the rest of us that he might be sick?"

"...he asked me not to."

"Oh for Pete's sake…" Rogue muttered. "Which is probably why none of us knew that a switch happened in the first place."

The silence stretched for a moment. "Rogue…."

"No more secrets, Scott. Ah mean it. We can't move forward from this if we don't all have each other's backs. This ain't the time to be fightin' amongst ourselves and withholdin' information."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Ah know."

"Now that we've hashed all that out…" Sage cleared her throat. "We might want to deal with our….problem in Alaska. If it is indeed Joseph, we need to find out why he agreed to pretend to be Magneto this whole time."

Rogue was thoughtful for a moment.

"Get a team together. Ah'll come along."

"Are you sure? You're still-" Scott cut in.

"Consider me your hostage negotiator. If it's really Joseph we're dealin' with, there's a chance he'll listen to me."

"What about Magneto?"

"Pietro called Wanda and Lorna. They'll be here within the hour. After that, we can make our move."