When the two men pulled Rogue through the iron doorway into what looked suspiciously like an exam room complete with a paper-covered gurneys, racks of equipment with blinking lights, and trays of shiny sharp instruments, she expected to see Jean waiting for her. The older woman was there, but she was stretched out on one of the gurneys. Jean appeared unconscious, and she wore a metal collar around her throat that was probably similar to the one that Rogue wore. A purple bruise was beginning to spread on her temple.
A tall blond man in a white lab coat stepped forward out of the shadows and smiled kindly at Rogue. “I see you recognize your friend,” he stated softly.
Rogue glared at him. “That woman is no friend of mine.”
The man nodded slowly. “I can understand that. It’s a pity, though,” he said in an offhand manner while gesturing to her two guards to guide Rogue to the closest gurney, two down from Jean.
“Why is it a pity that the traitor over there isn’t my friend?” Rogue asked.
He gestured again, and Rogue knew he wanted her to get up onto the gurney which stood at hip height to her. Glaring at him, Rogue complied. She knew it was important for her baby that she not give these goons too many excuses to abuse her, but it went against the grain to give in. Once she was sitting on the edge, the man in the lab coat used one latex-gloved hand to push her shoulder, not roughly, so that she laid back.
Finally he answered her question. “We hoped that using your…Dr. Grey’s safety as an incentive for good behavior would allow us to proceed with a minimum of fuss from you. If that is not the case, then we have no further need for her. She will be eliminated because her abilities are too dangerous to allow her continued existence. Telepaths have proven very resistant to our procedures,” he said calmly as he began rearranging items from the nearest tray.
Suddenly Rogue understood. “You’re with the same people who took Carol Danvers hostage, aren’t you?” The other woman’s weakened memories remembered a similar set up, a similar doctor untold years prior. At some point he had gained lines around his eyes and forehead.
The blond man smiled thinly. “Yes, you took out what was one of our most powerful weapons, Marie. We want it back.” The simple truth echoing in his words chilled Rogue to the bone almost as much as his casual use of her name.
Rogue scowled at him to hide the tendril of fear running along her spine. “Why are you telling me all of this? Why didn’t you just leave me unconscious and do whatever it is you plan on doing? It’s not like Ah could have stopped you with this collar thing on,” she said bitterly as she yanked at the metal circling her throat.
He caught her hand and laid it next to her side in an absent-minded way. “If only it were that simple, my dear. You see, in order for the control chip I will be placing in your brain to work correctly, your mutation has to be active at the exact moment of insertion. Thus, you must be awake and consciously not controlling your own mutation as well as those which you have absorbed. I hoped to use Dr. Grey’s safety as your guarantee that you would comply with every requirement of the procedure, but since that particular threat is of no use, I am left with no choice but to assure you that should you become…difficult, your collar will be turned back on so that I may perform an abortion with all due haste.”
Rogue blanched and brought her hands to cover her stomach. “How did you…?”
Chuckling harshly, he shook his head. “Dr. Grey was prone to babble on and on about your little bundle of joy and how it was going to ruin her life. Now, are you going to be a good patient and cooperate, or shall we start the abortion procedures?” He picked up a scalpel and stared at her impassively as if he didn’t particularly care which choice she made.
Before Rogue could reply, an explosion rocked the room. The two security guards glanced at each other and then the doctor. Frowning, the older man waved them out the door. He looked at Rogue.
“Perhaps Dr. Grey was correct and some of your friends have decided to come and play. While I have no doubt as to our abilities to defeat them, I believe we shall take some precautions.”
Logan and Scott jumped out of the Blackbird at the same time, before the ramp had even lowered completely. The others were quick to follow, leaving Hank at the helm for a quick getaway. When Logan saw how willing Scott was to open holes in walls of the dilapidated concrete building that was their target, he held back just enough that he wouldn’t be incinerated in the process. Men in dark blue security uniforms began streaming through the holes, and that was when Logan’s fun began. Even as he let his claws slide into stomachs and ripped out intestines or slit the nearest throats, most of his attention was focused on getting inside and finding Rogue.
He was pushing through the nearest smoking hole, leaving a trail of bodies for his teammates to follow, when two more men came rushing towards it. Logan caught a whiff of Rogue’s sent on them and barreled into them, taking them to the ground with a hand around each throat.
“Where is she?” he snarled, satisfied when the tang of urine filled the air. Let them piss their pants, he thought, as long as they could point him in a direction.
One man went completely white and began babbling incoherently, but the other managed to point down the hall to Logan’s left. With a grunt he tossed them back to Colossus who caught them easily and held them in the air. Scott was on his heels as he raced through the twisting hall, but for once Logan welcomed his presence. The more firepower they could bring to bear in order to get Rogue out, the better in his book.
Logan followed Rogue’s sent through several sets of doors, finally ending at a locked metal door. A sharp glance at Scott spoke volumes; a quick lance of red light and the doorknob and lock were nothing more than molten metal. Logan kicked in the door with two swift jabs of his foot and rushed into the room.
At the far end, Rogue stood over a terrified-looking older blond man, a scalpel in one hand and a smile on her face. She barely looked over her shoulder long enough to register their presence as she waved the sharp steel blade in the air menacingly.
“Did you really think that Ah wouldn’t be able to take you even without my powers, little man?” she taunted the cowering figure in front of her. “You’re soft, you know that? Too much time practicing your bedside manner, Ah think.”
“Rogue?” Logan growled.
“Not now, Wolverine. Ah’m playing,” she muttered, turning her body just slightly to finally acknowledge Logan and Scott.
That was when the blond man attacked, jumping up and lashing out at Rogue with a well-placed fist to the abdomen. Before Logan could cross the room and tackle him, the man pulled a syringe out of his white coat and stuck it into Rogue’s neck, pushing the plunger harshly so that the vicious yellow liquid emptied into her. He was laughing even as Logan’s claws slashed into him, severing his arm. The laughter stopped when a second swipe of the claws took out his throat.
Logan turned in time to see Rogue sway and then crumple to the ground. A hoarse cry echoed in the room as he bent to lift her convulsing body into his arms. A wet rush down his arm smelled of blood, and Logan began to fear the worst. He turned to Scott, who was staring from them to Jean, and barked, “We have to get her out of here!”
Scott’s lips firmed, and he nodded towards Jean. “Yeah, but we can’t leave her, either. She’s caused too much trouble to be left on her own.” He reluctantly bent to lift his unconscious former fiancé and followed Logan, Rogue cradled securely in his own arms, as he ran past fallen guards to one of the building’s new “exits.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Because I'm a sadistic bitch sometimes, and because I just couldn't see this going any other way no matter how I tried.
Chapter End Notes:
Yeah, this next part is going to suck. But I think it will all work out in the end...I hope! Let me know what you think.