“It ain’t going to happen, Rogue. Don’t even think it,” Logan growled loudly, scaring everyone in the house. He looked away from her before she could protest, forcing his attention on her parents. “You got a basement?”
“Yeah,” Leah replied. There was a squeak in her voice that made Rogue flinch. It was a bad idea to come here. If she hadn’t, they wouldn’t all be in danger right now. “Through the kitchen.”
“Get to it. Grab anything you might need to eat and drink on your way. Stay as far away from anything metal as you can.” Logan let his claws slide out slowly as he spoke, letting them know that he was serious. “Stay down there for the next few hours. I don’t know how long this is going to take.”
Leah nodded, grabbing Cody by the arm and dragging him behind her. Only Ray hesitated. He looked from Logan to Rogue, all of his pride showing in his eyes.
“Sorry, but I’m not going to leave my baby to the slaughter,” he said stubbornly, holding his ground.
“I’m a big girl, Daddy. I can take care of myself.” Rogue walked to him, gently pushing him towards the kitchen.
“No, Marie. You’re my daughter and I’ll fight with you. Just let me go get my shotgun.” He tried to walk past her, but Rogue grabbed his arm, refusing to let him. “Marie…”
“Don’t ‘Marie’ me this time, Daddy. It’s Rogue now.” She recognized his stubbornness. It was the same stubbornness she had in herself. It didn’t matter whose blood ran through her veins, she was very much his daughter. “Listen, there is a man out there who wants me bad. Your gun won’t do anything but make him laugh. This is what I do, what I’ve been trained for. Please, just go down to Momma. She needs you more than I do, right now. I’ll be fine.”
He saw it in her eyes. The fight that was coming. He knew what she was saying and understood that their roles had just reversed. She was trying to protect them now. “Please, Daddy.”
“No matter what, Marie, I’m proud of you.” He looked from her to Logan. “I don’t know you that well, Logan, but I’m pretty sure you’re a good man. Take care of my little girl. Don’t let her do anything stupid.”
“I don’t intend to,” Logan replied. They watched as Ray headed into the kitchen and began to help his wife grab a few things to take. It was going to be a long fight.
~*~*~*~*~*~
They walked out of the house together, Wolverine in front of Rogue. Mystique was waiting patiently just off the yard, watching for any signs of a trick.
“We can do this peacefully, Rogue. Just come with us,” Mystique called out. Judging by the gun in her hand, Rogue had a feeling that the word ‘peaceful’ wasn’t in the woman’s vocabulary.
Rogue knew what she had to do. It was the only way. She let her claws unleash, only wincing a little as she did so. She had to let the animal out to protect her family.
~*~*~*~*~*~
They fought side by side, both relishing in the warm stench of blood. As soon as they attacked Mystique, the rest of Magneto’s followers came out, ready for a fight. They had all known that she wouldn’t go easily, and had been prepared. What they weren’t prepared for was the way Rogue had quickly learned to utilize more than one ability at a time.
As Wolverine found himself cutting into person after person, Rogue was busy freezing this one and lighting that one on fire as she poked and stabbed with her own set of claws. She growled just as furiously as he did. And none of the cuts and bruises she acquired seemed to last that long.
He helped her work her way to the middle of the fight, keeping everyone focused on them. As long as no one did anything stupid like go into the house, they might leave a few alive.
Rogue found herself suddenly face to face with Mystique. She couldn’t stop the blood thirsty smile from forming on her lips. She wanted this badly. The other woman had to have been staking out the house for awhile now, preparing for the inevitable. Without warning, Mystique turned herself into a likeliness of Leah, trying to dissuade Rogue from doing any harm. Unfortunately, she soon realized that it wasn’t going to work as Rogue plunged her claws into her neck, blood squirting everywhere as Mystique tried to gasp for air.
Suddenly, both Rogue and Wolverine could detect a different scent in the air. One full of metal and arrogance. Rogue looked up to see Magneto hovering above them, watching Mystique die around her claws.
“You killed her,” Magneto said with a gasp, as if he really thought it was believable. “You killed your own kind.”
Rogue could see the fear in his eyes, and, suddenly, she knew that he had realized he might be wrong.
She jumped up quickly, forcing herself to fly into the air and face him. He knew what was coming, what was going to happen.
“What do you want from me, you arrogant bastard? What the hell do you need me for?”
“Why, my dear, I need your power. You’re going to prove to everyone that Homo-superior is, in fact, the dominant species. You’re going to start the war.” He smiled at her and she saw just how evil he truly was. “If you join me now, you can have so much power at your beck and call. You will be royalty, my dear. The most powerful mutant in the world. All you have to do is fight by my side.”
Rogue could feel something stirring inside her mind. Phoenix had heard his words and was responding to them. She wanted to fight, to stop what she knew was coming, but she couldn’t. She screamed as she felt the flames of Phoenix wrap around her mind.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The fight stopped abruptly as Rogue screamed. Logan felt chills running down his spine at the sound. He looked up, watching as everyone else did, as Rogue seemed to change before him.
~*~*~*~*~*~
“Ah, Phoenix. Welcome back, my dear,” Magneto said, his smile widening. She could see the happiness and warmth in his eyes. She knew that he thought he had won, but it wasn’t so.
“Not Phoenix,” she said, shaking her head slowly. She watched as the color drained from his face. “I’m nothing you’ve ever seen before, and everyone that is in this girls mind. I won’t fight with you, Magneto. Not now. You lost chance when you came to this house.”
He didn’t say anything, only whimpered as she thrust her claws into his stomach and twisted her wrist. He felt every second of pain as he died, his blood covering her hand. “I’m not your pawn.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
Magneto’s body fell first. Lifeless and withered. When no one caught it, they knew the fight was over. Those who could still walk turned to help those who couldn’t. With Magneto dead, there was no more reason, nothing to drive them. If they continued, there would only be a fight.
Rogue’s body fell next, and Logan scrambled to catch her. She had passed out completely after she had changed back into herself. She had used everything she had to kill the man who had tried to take her from those she cared for the most. It was time to go home.
He cradled her in his arms as he walked to the house. He sat on the couch, her body still in his arms. He happened to glance at the clock on the mantel to see that the fight that had seemed to last only a few minutes had gone on for three hours. But it was over.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Leah and Ray emerged from the basement first, telling Cody to stay down until they called for him. Ray had urged Leah to stay, also, but she wouldn’t listen. Marie was her daughter to.
The found them in the living room, wrapped up in each other, sleeping. The yard was a disaster, and the tree was gone. But the house was still standing. Leah went to get Cody out of the basement and send him on his way as Ray gently laid a blanket over the young couple as the slept.