“And there was no body?” Storm asked softly after the others had cleared out of the briefing room with plans to hit the showers and their beds. By the time they had returned to the mansion, it was early morning and all he had to show for it was a few partial files on a couple of the captive mutants and a computer that may or may not contain any useful information, assuming someone could get it to work.
“No body, Storm. Just a lot of blood.” Logan raked a hand through his hair, ignoring the finality of her tone.
“And you believe she’s dead?” Storm could see the doubt in his eyes and noted the way his hands shook as he fidgeted with the cigar that he still hadn’t chewed on, much less lit since walking into the room. She wasn’t at all surprised by his answer.
“Yeah… at first,” Logan whispered, his voice trailing off as his mind whirled back to what else they had found. There had been traces of her blood along the corridor and outside a couple of the other cells as well, but that could have gotten there any number of ways. It didn’t necessarily mean that it was her hand that had smeared that blood. “But it makes no sense, why would there be no body; unless she got out of there with the others. Even if she escaped, there should have been some kind of sign, but the trail’s cold, like everyone was picked up. But if she is alive, why hasn’t she gotten in touch with me yet?”
Storm nodded shortly, understanding his confusion. None of this made sense to her, either. “What happens now?”
Logan sighed, finally placing the cigar in his mouth. It was as if he was coming to his conclusions even as he filled her in on his plans. “We find Sabretooth. Dead or alive, he would at least have an idea. Plus, his wasn’t the only familiar scent that I found there.”
Storm tensed at the news, unsure of what to expect. If these people had been able to get their hands on someone as powerful as Sabretooth, they could have grabbed just about anyone. “Who else was there, Logan?”
“Pyro. And if anyone would feel obligated to keep her alive, it would be him.” Logan pulled the cigar out of his mouth again and began to pace the room. It was obvious he was unsure about the thoughts that were forming in his head, but they were the only straws he had at the moment. If neither of those people knew where she was, then he would be back to square one.
“Are you sure about this, Logan?” She wasn’t as optimistic as Logan that Pyro’s sentimentality was as strong as he wanted to believe.
He shrugged, rolling his shoulders to release some of his tension. “To be perfectly honest, Storm, I’m not to sure about anything right now.“
She didn’t think he was. She forced her eyes to meet his, seeing the pain and anger behind them. The anguish that was there was almost impossible to tolerate, but she had to ask before things went too much farther. Fearful of his response, she had a feeling she already knew what his answer would be. “And what happens if they tell you she’s dead?”
“Then I’ll kill them both,” Logan replied seriously, his eyes flashing with hatred. “I’ll make them both suffer. Rogue was in that cell with Sabretooth for who knows how long. He could have done anything he wanted to her and he’s sadistic enough to have done it all. I wouldn’t be surprised if he killed her to get the hell out of there.“
She sat at the small kitchen island, quietly eating her sandwich and trying hard not to listen to the group behind her. A few of the others had followed her into the kitchen just after Mystique left, claiming the need to check on a few things. Those sitting at the table a few feet behind her - the blond woman, the man with the strange eyes, and the one who couldn’t sit still - spoke in hushed voices, obviously trying to keep her from overhearing. Of course, with the consequences of Sabretooth’s touch still in evidence, she couldn’t help but overhear.
“So when did you find out you were a mutant, Pietro?” the blond woman asked. Rogue was beginning to wish she had been introduced, or at least given a list of names to choose from. It might have made things a little simpler.
“When I was small. I knew I was fast, but it wasn’t until I was about twelve that I realized just how fast.” It had to be the man with the white hair talking. Although he seemed to have traces of a European accent, Rogue was positive the other, the one with the strange eyes, was Southern. “My sister and I were raised by Gypsies in a little country called Transia, just south of the Transylvanian border. Things became very hard for our people when we were about 12 or 13. My father began to steal little bits of food from a few of the more prosperous villagers and farmers to feed us. Of course, he never took from anyone who couldn’t afford the loss, but a thief is a thief either way.
“Anyway, the villagers came for us in the night, blood in their eyes. My sister’s mutation was a little more obvious than mine and she wasn’t adept at controlling it yet, so they already knew that besides being Gypsy, she was also different. We awoke to the commotion outside. My parents pushed us out of a window and into the darkness. They knew that the villagers wouldn’t stop until blood was shed, so they made me promise that I would run as fast as possible. I picked up Wanda and did what they asked, not stopping until we were well into Romania.”
Pietro paused for a moment, and Rogue wondered if he was going to continue. She wondered what had happened to Wanda, but it was a few more seconds before he began again.
“Wanda and I lived there for a few years, careful not to get close to anyone or stay in one place too long. We were both afraid of what could happen, especially if people discovered Wanda’s hexing abilities. But we both spent this time learning about our abilities and gaining control. It was during this time that Wanda accidentally set a barn on fire. No one was injured, but the owners were not happy at all. They came again, brandishing pitchforks and looking for blood. Wanda was too afraid to use her abilities and I wasn’t able to find enough room to squeeze through the mob to use mine. But, just when we thought we were going to die, we were saved by another mutant named Erik Lehnsherr.”
Rogue narrowed her eyes at the name, her shoulders stiffening. She waited to hear more, wondering why Magneto would go out of his way to save two children that shouldn’t have meant anything to him.
“It wasn’t until much later that Wanda and I found out that we were actually his children. It seemed that the man and woman whom we thought were our parents had been asked to raise us by our mother, Magda. She had lost our sister in a fire before and hadn’t realized she was pregnant with us until afterwards. After that, he showed us the potential we held. He helped us develop our mutations and helped Wanda gain her much needed control. I lost contact with both after my father made his attempt at the Statue of Liberty. I was here talking to Mystique when we got the call from Sabretooth to come get you. Mystique said that he was responsible for the attack at Alcatraz, but she’s trying to get more information from a few of her sources. Pyro says that he’s not sure what happened after he was knocked out.”
“What about you, chère? What happened to you when you manifested?” the Cajun asked. Rogue could hear the sweetness dripping from his voice and felt as if she was going to puke. Was he really making a pass the day after they got out of captivity?
Rogue didn’t move, assuming that because he was still talking in a hushed whisper, he had to be speaking to the blond. Of course, she was proven right when she heard the other woman scoff at his come on.
“The name is Carol, not chère. Lieutenant Carol Danvers of the United States Air Force - well, formerly of the USAF,” Carol quickly corrected herself. Rogue wondered about that. She could bet that Carol had been dishonorably discharged after revealing her mutantcy. “And it’s pretty simple. I discovered my abilities when I was 14 years old. I had taken my parents’ tractor for a spin and parked it in a ditch. I was about five miles from home and it was getting dark fast. I couldn’t leave it there and I knew my parents were going to be upset. I tried everything I could think of. After awhile, I got frustrated and punched it. I dented the side and pushed it out at the same time. I picked it up and took it home. After that, I found out that I could fly and that I was invulnerable to mostly anything.”
“And what did your parents say?” Pietro asked. Rogue could hear the suspicion in his voice and wondered what his adoptive parents had said at first.
It was a moment before Carol said anything and Rogue found herself prepared for the worst. It was what she had gotten, wasn’t it? “They said that it was alright; that I shouldn’t be afraid, just cautious.”
Rogue could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke and felt her stomach churn. “Momma said that she always knew that I was something special and she wasn’t really all that surprised. But special or not, I was still grounded for a week for taking the tractor. They helped me get a better grasp of my abilities after that. The flying was the best though. It’s what helped me decide on the Air Force when I got out of high school. Of course, when they found out about my mutation, I was given a leave of absence to take care of it with the cure. So I went to take it and the next thing I knew, I had a collar slapped around my neck and was being thrown into the back of a truck.
“And what about you, Remy?” Carol demanded, diverting attention from herself. “What was it like for you when you became a mutant?”
“Ah chère, we don’t become mutants, we born mutants. You should know that by now.” Remy chuckled at his own wit while Rogue rolled her eyes. At least she had the names of three of them. “Remy be born in Louisiana, raised in New Orleans. My daddy was Jean-Luc LeBeau. He wasn’t my real daddy, non, but he took me in and gave me a real home: food, clothes, and the best education that Remy could hope for. He taught me how to be a thief and put me in with the Thieves’ Guild. Remy got good at that real quick, my brother, too. I was called le diable blanc, the White Devil, due to my eyes.”
Carol snickered again, “Are you sure it wasn’t because of your charming personality?”
“The ladies down south, ain’t none complained when Remy picked their pockets, petite.” Remy paused, letting both women absorb that. Although he liked to flirt with the blond at his side, he felt his eyes keep wandering to the brunette sitting alone. He knew she was deliberately eating her food slowly, listening in on their tales and wondered what her story was, if she had it rough like a few of the others. He wasn’t even sure what her mutation really was; Victor had refused to let anyone else near her. She was an enigma that would be fun to try to figure out.
“Now, the Thieves’ Guild had a longtime rival, the Assassins. It was up to Remy to take his brother through the Tithing, the ritual that we all have to complete before we can become members. The Assassins attacked us that night. Remy made sure his brother escaped, but this Gambit not so lucky. The Assassins, they sold me to that lab the chère over there got us out of. Remy can’t help but wonder what her story be.”
“Rogue has no story, Remy.” She didn’t need to turn around to know who this new voice belonged to. She knew it well. She had laughed and fought with him many times over the years, both in person and in her head. “Rogue is just there, wandering around, blissfully unaware of what she is and the power she could have. I know many mutants who would kill for her abilities. Including your father, Pietro.”
“Stuff it, John. You don’t know anything about me,” Rogue growled before she could stop herself. She refused to turn around and look at them, at him, specifically. She had once considered this man a friend, but even then he hadn’t known much about her. If she was honest with herself, no one really did. She hadn’t even told Logan about what had transpired after her mutation manifested.
“Is that the only name you be giving Remy, chère?” the Cajun asked with a sly smile.
Rogue swiveled her stool to glare at the man. “That be the only name Remy be needing, Swamp Rat. And you, John, need to stay the hell out of my way and out of my life. I didn’t ask to come here and I really didn’t expect to see you. If I had been in my right mind, I would have left you in that place to rot like the traitor you are.”
“You went to take the cure, for no one but yourself and your ice boy. Who’s the traitor, Rogue?” No one moved as the two former schoolmates stared each other down. It was obvious the two had a history between them, and no one else in the room felt the need to try and calm them down, so no one spoke.
Rogue smirked, her eyes icy as she stood from her stool, wanting to be on firmer ground in case he attacked. “At least I didn’t abandon my friends in a broken down plane in the snow to follow a lunatic on a pointless crusade.”
“The survival of mutantkind is not a pointless crusade, Rogue -”
“It’s the most important work we will do. We are Gods among insects…” Rogue interrupted, continuing to mimic Magneto’s speech. “You really think you’re the first student he tried to recruit from the school? Are you really that naïve? Magneto would have killed for my abilities, right? What do you think he wanted from me if I had survived his machine on that damn statue?” She ignored the gasp that came from Pietro. Obviously, he hadn’t realized whom he was keeping company with, or the precarious position he found himself in. “Do you really think I wanted to go through that again? Another Wacko with a machine only his abilities could control? You have no idea what the hell I’ve been through, John, so back the fuck off.”
“Then why don’t you tell us?” John asked quickly as he took a seat at the table with the other three, trapping her into the conversation. “Why don’t you share who you were when your abilities manifested.”
“Because I don’t think it’s really any of your damn business,” Rogue replied, her eyes narrow. She walked out of the room without a backward glance.
~*~*~*~*~*~
She walked past Mystique and the blind woman sitting in the living room, ignoring their presence as she made her way back up the stairs. She wondered how long she was going to be allowed to stay here, and if she really wanted to. Was she willing to pay the price?
Rogue didn’t notice the pair of eyes following her. She hadn’t realized that Mystique had noticed her. And, even with her acute hearing, her mind had been too clouded for her to realize what the two women were planning.
“Are you sure about this, Destiny?” Mystique asked slowly when she knew Rogue was completely out of the room. “Can we truly trust her?”
“For now, yes,” the blind woman replied softly. “She will be a great asset, if taken care of properly. She’s the one to lead this team. I’ve said that for years. She’s stronger than she appears, that should have been obvious when she survived that machine Erik put her in. Given the chance, she will make a greater impact than Magneto and Xavier combined.”
“But whose life will she take?” Mystique asked quickly. She didn’t want to be overheard by any of the others. “And which path will she choose?”
“All I know is that someone will not survive her touch, and it will be a great test for her. As for the path, well, that depends on the influences around her.”