The whirring of helicopter blades summoned Rogue from her state of unconsciousness. Her eyes blearily opened to stare up at the ceiling. Her head pounded from where it had been hit and cause sickness to spur in her gut. She tried to sit up slowly, but found that her wrists were bound. It was only then that she realised how painful this was to her broken one. A pained gasp sounded from her, muffled by a tight gag. Ahead of her there was a sound of movement. Rogue slowly looked up through lanky strands of brown hair, it suddenly hitting her that she was no longer sat in the snow with Logan.
She was in a helicopter?
Her eyes moved towards the sound of movement and to her horror she saw a blue skinned female sat comfortably in the pilot’s seat, brazenly bare. A feeling of dread came upon Rogue as she slowly let her eyes travel around the helicopter. A tall man dressed in brown furs was sat in the co-pilots seats. He looked bloodied and rather injured. Completely bafflement came upon Rogue, for she was sure he was the man Logan had confronted. Yet was it that he was covered in scratch marks and vicious slices that looked like they had been done by animal claws. Rogue had seen Logan fight, he punched and kicked with expert precision.. he didn’t claw..
Mystique was looking around worriedly, staring at the mirror either side of the helicopter front, “They’re on our tail,” she said sharply, glancing across to Sabretooth.
Sabretooth looked into his own mirror, uttering a puzzled grunt of question.
“Oh, Sabretooth! The X-Men!” snarled Mystique, seeming more infuriated by Sabretooth’s denseness.
Rogue gasped as she saw a shadow come across the front of the helicopter. A smooth sleek jet of dark silver cut across the front of the helicopter, causing the blue skinned woman to abruptly jerk the aircraft out of the way.
“I knew this was going to happen!” she muttered as she straightened the helicopter, fixing a heated glare at the jet that flew in front of them.
Then, all of a sudden, the helicopter froze. Unmoving in mid-air. Rogue was slumped forward at the sudden halt, straightening herself up after the force. Bewilderment overcame here fear as she stares out of the window ahead of her, seeing the two in the pilot seats doing the same. The skies outside had suddenly darkened with thick rolling clouds. Rogue huddled back slowly against the cold metal of the helicopter, trying to put as much distance between her and the oddity of everything before her.
A scream was muffled against her gag as a figure rose up in front of the windscreen. A woman, dressed in a tight suit of black leather hovered before them. A silver cape unfurled behind her in a high wind. Hair of startling ivory billowed behind her, whilst pupil-less eyes of white glowed in the darkness, standing out against her mocha skin.
“Lower us,” said Sabretooth, quickly spinning to Mystique.
But Mystique was trying the controls to no avail, “Nothing is working! I bet that Dr. Grey is doing it!”
Rogue could only scream louder as the ceiling above her was suddenly ripped open in a blast of red light. She threw herself down onto the floor, her fear only escalating as a rush of terrorising wind bellowed into the stationary helicopter. She heard a muffled cry of “Cyclops!” before there was a loud bang on the roof. All went quiet for only a moment.
The flying woman appeared, her ghostly eyes staring down at Rogue who remained huddled on the floor. “Don’t worry!” she called as she fastened her hand about Rogue’s bound wrists. Rogue’s cries were muffled by her gag as she felt herself being lifted surprisingly easily by the woman. The two mutants at the front of the helicopter whipped round as they saw Rogue being taken and leapt at her. Rogue squeezed her eyes shut in fear, but felt nothing hit her. A flash of light shone through her closed lids and she quickly opened her eyes to see the pair being thrown back by the vicious crackle of electricity.
But they disappeared from view as Rogue was lifted in the arms of the flying woman and flown across the air towards the large silver jet ahead of them. Rogue slowly looked up at the face of the woman carrying her, noticing how her eyes were slowly changing from their solid white and returning to a soft brown. As she lowered down onto open steps at the back of the jet, there was only one reason Rogue could see behind the event that had just occurred.
They were mutants, all of them. Those in the helicopter, the woman carrying her, and perhaps, even those she was about to meet in this jet. The woman walked up the ramp slowly, still carrying Rogue with a surprising strength. She looked down, meeting Rogue’s eyes and offering a gentle smile, “I’m Storm.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For hours he had been walking, the roads just as white, the air just as cold. The pain in Logan’s healing wounds was numbed by the bitterness of the atmosphere. Whilst most of the scratches and cuts had healed, particularly bad, deep injuries were still not perfectly sealed. But that pain was nothing in comparison to what he felt inside. Inside he felt just as numb and cold, but it was different. It wasn’t caused by the weather. That particular pain was caused by the fact he had lost the girl he had promised himself to look after. He knew there was trouble, someone following them, but he never thought that it was Marie they wanted. He thought they were after him, because of his past! Not some innocent young girl.
“But she’s not innocent, is she?” came a voice in his head, “She’s a runaway. Something bad has happened and she’s trying to get away from it.. Just like you.”
Logan didn’t think that Marie had previously come into contact with the attackers, for she would have warned him. She seemed as clueless as he when he discovered someone was following them. Yet there was something.. Something about her that made him suspect. She had been hiding something from him. Whatever had happened previously, she didn’t want him to know. And it had boiled down to a dangerous decision. Unable to help her, it had hit Marie like a bad karma.
Slowly, he continued to trudge through the snow, with only few items of clothing and food he had managed to salvage from the wreckage and shove into his old bag. He didn’t think he could quite make it, walking alone without those items. He may have an enhanced healing factor, but he felt so drained and weak, he thought it might just give up on him.
Another thing that had been bothering him was the sight of the jet following the helicopter. Whoever that was, were they against them or with them? It didn’t make sense that the attackers would leave in a helicopter if they had such a high powered jet available.
Inside, Logan hoped that they would be fighting against the kidnappers, fighting for Marie. Because he couldn’t. Not anymore.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Storm lowered Rogue to the floor, quickly striding by to where a black uniform-clad man was sat crouched on his knees, holding his side painfully. Rogue stood to her feet slowly, with her hands still tied behind her back. She looked around the jet slowly, unable to stop herself from marvelling at the sheer expense and gadgetry inside it. Everything was a sleek sheen of silver, polished to an impressive gleam. Rows of seats, cushioned with a indigo material, were stood in rotational stands at the front of the jet.
“Scott, I told you not to go out there,” a red-haired woman was knelt on the man’s other side. “Storm and I had it under control.”
“Oh, come on, Jean. Who else was going to open up the helicopter without crashing it?”
Storm shook her head slowly, “We would have managed.”
“Yeah, well,” Scott winced quietly as he stood to his feet, “thanks for catching me,” he glanced slowly to Storm with a small grin.
Storm merely smiled before she turned to look at Rogue, “I think we ought to explain why we dragged you out of that helicopter so forcefully, and at least who we are.”
“Yeah,” said Rogue, finding herself stepping back slowly from the three leather suited strangers, “I’d like to know who the hell y’all are first.”
“We’re like you,” explained Jean quietly as she stepped besides Storm, “We’re mutants.”
“But so were the others,” Rogue felt her back hit the wall of the jet and she stopped her back stepping, “in the helicopter.”
Storm gently took a few graceful steps towards Rogue, with a paternal air about her as she offered a reassuring smile and a warm gaze, “You were taken by the Brotherhood. You’re correct, they too are mutants, but with views very different to ours. Unless we are very much mistaken they were trying to recruit you for some wretched plan to either hurt or kill humans.”
But Rogue looked indignant, she would have folded her arms if she could, “I wouldn’t have let ‘em use me.”
“I’m afraid the Magneto has powerful methods of persuasion.” Scott had sat down in one of the rotating seats, a hand still holding his side.
“Magneto?”
“Leader of the Brotherhood and an incredibly powerful mutant.”
“And who are you?”
“We’re the X-Men. I’m Scott Summers, also called Cyclops. And this is Ororo Munroe, codename Storm. Lastly, Dr. Jean Grey.” He had gestured to the woman in turn. “With our leader, we’re fighting for peace between humans and mutants and unfortunately, at times, between our own kind. Magneto doesn’t believe we can ever live in peace, Professor Xavier does, and I know who I’d put my money on,” Scott made a crooked grin in Rogue’s direction.
A speaker on the control panel crackled quietly, “I see you have found the girl. Are you coming back to the mansion?”
“On our way, Professor.”
“Good. See you shortly.” The signal shut off.
Rogue raised a brow, “That’s the Professor? How did he know I was here?”
Scott chuckled as he seated himself in the pilot seat, “You’ll find all that out very shortly, Rogue.”
“You know my alias?”
Jean was walking towards her whilst Storm and Scott took control of the jet. “Of course,” she said softly as she untied Rogue’s binds with gloved hands, “The Professor knows a lot about you, Rogue.”
Rogue turned slowly as she was freed, “Am I going to meet him?”
“Definitely,” said Jean as she guided Rogue to a seat, “He’ll be keen to meet you.” She then paused, “Are you injured?”
It was just then that Rogue realised how much pain she was in, and suddenly got a nasty throb in her wrist as if it knew it had been forgotten about. “Yeah.. My wrist is broken, and just a few cuts and bruises.”
“I can help you with those. I’m a doctor.”
“Wait,” Rogue had grabbed Jean’s gloved hand as it moved towards her, “I should warn ya.. Ya can’t touch my skin with bare hands.”
“Oh?”
“Y’see.. That’s mah power. Poisonous skin.”
Jean looked concerned although seemed to brush it off with a gentle smile, “Well, that’s one thing the Professor didn’t know about. But it’ll be alright with my gloves.” Rogue nodded gently, and allowed Jean to sit and tend to her injuries as the flight continued on.
Mostly, the jet was quiet with the occasional conversation passing between Storm and Scott. But just as Jean was cleaning a cut on Rogue cheek, she casually asked, “Were you travelling with anyone?”
Rogue suddenly gasped, flinging her clothed arm down to knock Jean’s away, “Logan!” she cried, remembering. With all the sudden events she had forgotten about her companion.
“Logan?” Jean repeated, looking curious, “Is he another mutant?”
“No..” said Rogue softly, shaking her head as she felt her arm fall, “He’s just been helping me out for a few days. I have no idea if he’s alright..” she sighed quietly, holding her head, “He got into a fight with that big mutant, Sabretooth. God, he’s probably dead!”
“Don’t worry, Rogue,” said Jean quietly as she dabbed the cut slowly, “I’m sure the Professor will be able to track him down for you.”
“You can do that?”
Jean merely smiled mysteriously, “We’re mutants, Rogue. We shouldn’t underestimate ourselves.”
The Wolverine & Rogue Fanfiction Archive
Barely Legal Since 2000