Chapter 7
With Tabitha back at the Brotherhood house, the boys expected things to return to the usual chaos with her terrorizing and bullying them. Instead, she surprised them by sitting quietly in her room most days.
Lance found himself growing genuinely concerned about her. Frustrated by the feeling, he decided to try talking to her. He approached her room and knocked on the door.
“Hey Tabs, you in there?” he asked rhetorically as he opened her door. He found her curled up in bed with her back to him. She looked tense, and small, and nothing like herself.
“Go away, Lance,” Tabitha said half-heartedly.
Ignoring her request, Lance pulled up a chair and continued to prod. “Look, Tabs, you have to come out sometime. You gotta eat.” Tabitha remained silent. “Do you want me to get you anything?” The words tasted like vinegar.
“You didn’t come for me,” Tabitha finally said.
“What?” Lance questioned.
“You didn’t come for me. I was there for days before anyone came, but as soon as Kitty showed up, suddenly you all were there.” He could hear her voice catch in her throat.
“That’s not fair, Tabitha. You know you disappear for days on end sometimes.” He tried his best to not sound callous. ‘Be nice!’ He could hear Kitty scolding him mentally. “What I mean to say is…you are kind of a wild card. We don’t know what you’re up to most of the time so we just figured you were out doing your own thing. We noticed you were gone, we just…” He trailed off.
Tabitha had no response.
“Look, I’m sorry that happened, Tabs, but we got there as soon as we could. We had no idea where you were until one of Magneto’s ex-puppets showed up and told us he had a lead.”
Tabitha continued to be silent.
“Well, if this is how it’s going to go, I’m going to leave.” Lance stood up, but Tabitha called out.
“Wait!” Lance halted in his tracks and turned to find Tabitha gazing back at him. “I... I don’t want to be alone right now.” she spoke with such softness he wasn’t sure he heard her correctly. He grappled with a profound sense of discomfort, a strong inclination to escape tugging at him, but the hollow look etched across her face, an unspoken obligation anchored him in place. He reluctantly sat back down and let a heavy silence envelope the two of them.
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Kitty ascended the stairs and turned down the hall that led to her room, a million miles away mentally. Lost in thought, she was trying to recall the moments leading up to her abduction. The last thing she remembered was running errands, and then suddenly waking up in a cell with a dirt floor. Lost in her thoughts, she nearly bumped into Bobby, who was walking in the opposite direction.
“Whoa, hey!” Bobby said. “Where were you? What happened?” Kitty felt a knot in her stomach, trying to find the right words.
“We were attacked by those creeps working for Magneto. I wasn’t there long before Kurt and Gambit came to get us out with the rest of the team.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Bobby said. “Will we see you in training?”
“Um… Yeah, maybe,” Kitty forced a weak smile.
“Okay. See ya around.” Bobby took off down the hall, and Kitty found herself relieved that the conversation was over.
Entering her room and shutting the door behind her, she considered staying there for the remainder of the day, perhaps the rest of the week. She wondered how many days off she could take without affecting her GPA.
Checking her phone, she attempted mindlessly scrolling through social media. Since the incident with Apocalypse, much of the internet had become home to the “Mutant Question.” Were mutants safe? Should they be registered? Tracked? Then there were people who believed they were products of government experimentation. Realizing she was trading one anxiety-inducing activity for another, she tossed her phone on her night stand and decided to try and nap instead. The weather was perfect for it—overcast, chilly, leaves falling. She knew she would feel better when she woke up. Grabbing her dragon stuffed animal, she curled up on top of the covers.
She attempted to force herself to dwell on anything other than how the cave smelled, and what they wanted her for. She resisted considering who was behind it all, and who else they were planning to abduct. And she definitely tried not to think about whether or not they were going to try and force Rogue to absorb her.
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With things a little quieter around the mansion Scott figured he should be getting back to his own life and routine. He had missed a few important classes and was hoping to make time to catch up on the work before it affected his grades. Thankfully his professors believed him when he said he was close to his family and that they depend on him a lot. Not really a lie so much as a creative interpretation of the truth. He packed up the few things he brought with him and started making his rounds to say his goodbyes. He had a long drive ahead of him, and he wanted it out of the way sooner than later.
His first stop was Storm’s room where she of course reminded him to remember to take time for himself. Next he worked his way down the dorms saying his goodbyes to the various other students and family members. He wondered if Jean was ready to leave as well. He knew they hadn’t discussed it, but he imagined that they would depart as they arrived; together.
He rounded the corner to the great room to see Kurt with a captive audience.
“And then Rogue punched me with this crazy super strength and--”
“Alright, break it up. Don’t some of you have something better to do?” The crowd began to disperse, but Scott horse collared the young German man before he could leave “Not you Kurt.”
“Aw man,” Kurt gulped. “What did I do now?”
“I understand that you want to talk about what happened, but we don’t need rumors about what happened flying around. Think of how Rogue is going to take it when she wakes up.” Kurt’s eyes were downcast and he nodded.
“You’re right Scott. I’m sorry, it’s just all I’m able to think about right now.”
“I know, me too. But we have to remain discrete. For Rogue’s and Kitty’s sake.”
“Understood.”
“Thanks Kurt. I’m going to head back home soon and since I have you here, do you know where everyone else is?”
“I think Kitty is sleeping still, and Rogue is still in the med bay. I believe that’s where you’ll find Logan, Hank, and the Professor.”
“And Jean?” Scott asked.
“I haven’t seen her all day. Has she not been with you?”
Scott shook his head. “No, but thank anyway. Oh and Kurt? Thanks for letting me know about this, so I could come back.”
“Of course. Thanks for coming. I’m not happy this happened, but I am happy that I called you and Jean before we knew for sure.”
“That reminds me, Jean and I won’t be back for the holidays most likely, but we will try to be here for new years.”
“We can open them on new years Kurt.” He elbowed his fellow teammate.
“See you then, Scott.” The two embraced and parted ways. Kurt off to do god knows what, and Scott continued on his path toward the med bay when he bumped into Gambit standing in the hall.
“pardonnez-moi” Gambit said as he stepped out of Cyclops’ way.
“What are you doing here?” Scott questioned. “You have no business being down here.”
“I was just seeing if I could be of assistance.” Gambit gave a cool smile. “More hands make less work non?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of too many cooks.”
“Good advice. I suppose I best be gettin out of the way then.”
As Scott continued down the hall Gambit quickly made his way out toward the courtyard. He had been going around the grounds discreetly finding and disabling equipment that had been used to spy on the X-Men. He had mentally divided up the estate into sections and had been dismantling them a little at a time, ensuring no one detected him. With such an audience in the med Bay Area making it difficult to work, he turned his attention to the network of monitoring equipment that were in effect outside on the estate grounds. If anyone else discovered these devices, there was a high chance he would be held responsible. And in a way, he was.
He felt remorse as he swept the grounds, recalling his original task. To spy on the X-Men. His previous employer had not disclosed what the reasoning was, and it wasn’t in a thief’s nature to ask. Things were working fine until Xavier extended the offer to join him for the third time in his life. His benefactors requests became more and more bizarre, Gambit decided it was best o put some distance between them and end their current agreement. The man Gambit had worked for was always eccentric, and to be fair Gambit liked about him. But all his preaching and focus on ‘helping all of mutant kind’ was candy coating on a far more sinister ideology. Thankfully, the Cajun youth was used to playing multiple sides at once, and never had less than two exit strategies at a time.
Growing up as the son of the head of the Thieves Guild offered mostly drawbacks. The whole experience left him skilled, capable, and handy with a lock pick, but at what cost? Trust from or in others didn’t mean much to him when he was younger, but that was when he had the guild. His family. He remembered when Xavier first approached him when he was 15. Rather than genuinely consider his offer, Gambit instead began to imagine how to rob this obviously wealthy cripple and was surprised with the repercussions of plotting in the presence of a telepath.
When Magneto came to him, now that was different. That man spoke his language. The master of magnetism had warned Gambit of how much harder life was about to get. He almost wished he had gone with him then and there. He would have avoided everything that happened between him and Belle, or all the other family drama. He wouldn’t have continued to be his “father’s” pawn in a pointless game.
He wasn’t married to the idea of living with the X-Men, but he couldn’t deny that he was being drawn to a found family that genuinely cared for one another. Ever since he saw the way the team pulled together to recover Rogue back when he had taken her, he felt himself wondering if he could have that for him one day. Being on your own could be exhausting. Sleeping in a different place every few nights, not having access to a reliable shower, not keeping anything you couldn’t carry on her person. There was no denying that he was a vagabond.
When Xavier extended the opportunity to join the team again, he declined at first. He was suspicious that after his track record anyone would be willing to take him in, much less someone he fought against not too long ago. Was Xavier a fool? He thought over the potential outcomes of accepting, knowing that he would be under a lot of scrutiny. And who could blame them? He had a habit of cutting and running when things got tough. Loyalty was a tool that had been used to control him before, he was hesitant to exercise those habits again.
Disabling what he was sure was the last of the devices in this section of the woods surrounding the estate he decided it might be a good idea to go for a ride. A chance to clear his head and come up with a story to cover his ass should they discover his connection to this incident.
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Rogue’s world came into focus as she opened her eyes. One of the first things she could recognize, other that the ceiling tiles of the mansion’s med bay, was Logan sitting next to her bed. She was thirsty, sore, dazed, and overjoyed to be home.
“Hey kid, How are you feeling?”
“Like Ah got hit by a train.”
“That is understandable.” The Professor said, pulling up to her bedside. “You have been through a lot.”
“What happened to me?”
“We are not yet sure, but what we have gathered is that you have somehow absorbed another person, almost in their entirety.”
Rogue got flashes of being knocked out, of being hooked up to machines, an intense flood of power and thoughts, as well as being woken up by Kitty and the cave in. She then looked around the room and saw the body of the other woman. “Is that her?” She asked a question but knew the answer.
“Yes.” The professor said. “Her name is Carol.”
“We were both held prisoner in that cave with these things that took our powers away.”
“Ah yes.” Hank said “Most interesting technology. I have been researching the samples that were brought back to see if we can somehow reverse engineer them.” Beast held one in his hand as if to inspect it. “Perhaps we can find a way to combat them.”
“Rogue.” The professor attempted to return to his original focus. “It seems that whatever happened in that lab has caused you to be imprinted with more than the regular memories and abilities. Somehow Carol’s actual psyche has been absorbed too, and she is rather desperate to get back to her body. We are doing everything we can to see how this is possible but for now we must do what we can to keep you in control. It seems that you have acquired her powers and until we can better understand the situation, Jean and I have done what we can to set up some defenses for you, but we do not know how long they will hold.”
Rogue digested information relayed to her, as well as tried to process the trauma of being kidnapped, held prisoner, and the betrayal at the hands of Emma. “Can Ah go shower?” She said “Maybe try to feel like myself again?”
“Of course Rogue.” Hank said. You should be able to go about your business, but please let me know if anything happens that is not normal.
“Okay.” She sat up and Logan helped her out of bed.
“You sure you’re okay kid?” Logan asked.
“Ahm fine Logan. Ah just need some time to myself.”
“Rogue! You’re awake!” At that exact moment Scott entered the room and saw the young girl getting out of bed.
“Not sure if Ah wanna be yet.” She replied.
“Rogue was just about to take her leave to get some privacy.” Hank spoke in such a way that Scott gathered saying goodbye wasn’t a top priority of hers. Rogue waved off any further assistance offered and left the med bay as quickly as she could.
“Hello Scott, I assume you will be leaving here shortly?”
“That’s the plan. Have you seen Jean?”
“Jean is doing some work for me with Cerebro. Now that Rogue is awake and seemingly in control of herself for now, our priority is attempting to restore Miss Danvers to her own body.”
“Great. How would we do that?”
“I’m not sure, Scott, and there is a chance that we will not be able to. Only time will tell. Miss Danvers is still in there somewhere, and there is a good chance the portion of her psyche that is in Rogue will not like that we have walled her off. But we have done all we can do for now.”
“We shall keep excellent care of her body until we can return her to it.” Hank said. “Fortunately a few of our previous students have contacted me and are wondering if they can ‘intern’ with our facility for their pre-med courses.”
“A wonderful idea.” Xavier said. “More trained and trusted hands will be quite helpful in the days to come I feel.”
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Rogue stepped out of the hottest shower she could possibly take, the bathroom filled with steam and condensation. She wrapped a towel around herself and wiped the mirror down, gazing at her reflection for the first time since returning home. The gauntness of her face and the visibility of bones in her chest spoke of a health one might consider concerning.
Staring at herself, she studied her own face, recognizing the person in the mirror yet feeling a disconnect. Tugging on her hair, she stood up straight, deciding to ponder it later as she went to get dressed.
In her old room, which now offered a modicum of comfort, Rogue found few of her personal effects left behind. The professor had arranged for a company to pack all her things and bring them here immediately. While she understood the safety aspect, the lack of consultation left her conflicted. Wasn’t she an adult now, entitled to a say in such decisions?
Kitty and Jean had left spare clothes on her bed. Though not her style and a bit baggy due to weight loss, she appreciated the gesture. Opting for black, stretchy athletic pants and a yellow hooded sweatshirt, she surprisingly didn’t despise the color as much as she thought, though it was far from flattering.
With her hair still damp, she headed down to the kitchen to try to scrounge up something to eat. She was pleased to find a package of grits in the pantry and, deciding on a comforting southern breakfast set to boiling water and heating up the frying pan.
The mansion, once bustling with students, had seen many depart after the world nearly ended. Some graduated and moved away, seeking a taste of normalcy. Others became ambassadors, advocating for mutant equality. A few chose to travel the world, sensing the precarious future they faced.
She found herself thinking about what it might mean to be living here again. She had enjoyed her time as an x-man, but she wasn’t sure that was what she wanted the rest of her life to be. Being the face of mutant kind and how they can help the world seemed like a lot of pressure. On the other hand she wouldn’t be able to have a normal life. As long as she had her mutation she would never have the connection she wanted, and would always be sought after for her abilities. Mystique, Mesmero, Apocalypse… Her mind went blank.
The sound of the water boiling over on the stove pulled her out of her trance. How long had she been standing there, staring off into space? She rushed to turn. The stove off, salvaged what water she could for her grits, and cleaned up the mess. Thankfully the bacon continued to cook.
As soon as the eggs were done she plated everything and sat on the kitchen island. She was hungry but for some reason the food tasted bland and eating felt like a chore. She wasn’t a great cook on her best day, but this seemed unordinary.
“Hey kid, I think you might want this.” He extended his hand to offer her phone. Rogue took it and checked it over. “I charged it for you. And don’t worry, we didn’t look at it or anything.”
“Thanks Logan.” She gave a weak smile as she saw how many notifications she had missed over the last several days.
“No problem. Glad to see you have an appetite.” He turned and walked out, leaving her to her business.
Rogue grabbed a glass of water and sat down to check her notifications. Several calendar alerts for tasks and classes, notifications from google and social media apps, emails, and numerous missed messages and calls. The lion’s portion of them were from Kurt, asking her how she was doing, then if she’s okay, and then if he did something wrong to make her mad at him. Several from Kitty urging her to text Kurt back because he was getting worried. A few from classmates asking where she was, one from Jean. And a handfull from the young man she had been seeing.
She couldn’t help but smile. She knew that she was loved and cared for, but it was always nice to see it. Pushing the anxiety of having to sort through and deal with all her missed tasks she turned her attention back to her food.
After she finished her first proper meal in several days, she washed the dishes and decided now was as good a time as any to go for a walk around the estate grounds. She had been inactive for long enough that she started to feel antsy. As she let the mansion exterior door close behind her she noticed a familiar man dressed in a trench coat saunter up the walkway.
“Bonjour Cherie, It’s good to see you are up and about so soon.” Cool as always his tone was dispassionate and yet flirtatious. The sight of him sent Rogue into a rage.
“You!” She shouted and took off in flight right at him. Before he could react she had grabbed him by the lapels and hoisted him up in the air. “What are YOU doing here?!” Her eyes burned right through him as he dangled what had to have been 30 feet off the ground.
“Whoa now chère, is that anyway to treat an old friend? I have been here for a little while now, invitation of the professor.” He looked down briefly, considering the various outcomes of this encounter. “Your new powers suit you well, non?” He smirked. He could feel the daggers in her eyes bore into him. He had forgotten how intense she could be and wondered if the game was worth the risk of being dropped.
“Rogue! Stop!” Jean came running out of the mansion. “Gambit has joined our team and has been working with us for a while now!” Rogue turned her attention to Jean.
“Why on earth would you take this snake in the grass into our home?” She turned her attention back to the helpless Cajun and gave him a light shake for emphasis.
“Rogue, please, let’s just calm down.” Rogue scoffed and began to lower herself. As she got about 10 feet off the ground she released Gambit and let him fall, landing in front of him with her arms crossed. Jean jogged up beside her. “I know it may seem strange, but so far Gambit has been a huge asset to us. He was able to lead us to where you were all being held captive.” Jean reasoned.
“It’s true, but to be fair, wasn’t hard to track down someone like Pyro, he might as well have rolled out the red carpet.” Gambit dusted himself off. “Besides, what kind of thief would I be if I didn’t keep tabs on my old associates?”
“Sounds suspicious to me.” Rogue jabbed a finger in his direction. “Ah’m watchin’ you swamp-boy.”
“Promise?” He quirked an eyebrow. She made it so easy to push her buttons.
Rogue grunted in frustration, spun around on her heels, and stormed off in the opposite direction.
“She is still fragile from what she went through. It may be best to give her space.” Jean cautioned.
Gambit gave a half salute to signal that he understood Jean. “I suppose oughta be on my best behavior then.”
“Please?” Jean asked.
“You got it Jeannie.” As Gambit sauntered toward mansion and held the door open for Jean.
“I know you mean well, but you have to remember that most of us have had time to get used to you being here already. She hasn’t. She also migh not be as easy to win over as you may think she is.”
Gambit placed his right hand over his heart and raised the other. “Had I a white flag, I assure you I would be waving it.”
Jean rolled her eyes and smiled. His playful nature could be annoying at times, but it did have a way of softening tense situations. “Sorry to harp on the subject, I’m just really worried about her. We still don’t know how she’s going to walk away from this and I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“Well I’m flattered that you are lookin out for lil ol me.”
“I’m looking out for both of you.” Jean emphasized. “Don’t make that job harder on me than it already is. I have to check in on the Professor, and then I will very likely be leaving to go back home in the next day or two. Thank you again for helping us find her and the others.”
“It’s no trouble at all, glad to be of service. bonne journée!” Gambit continued his stroll toward his room replying Jean’s advice in his head. Was it wise to rile up the now invulnerable, flying woman who could kill him with a touch? Likely not. But he couldn’t deny how fun it was to tease her to begin with. Not being one to turn down a challenge, it sounded like a fun gamble. Besides, she was cute when she was angry.
As Jean approached Xavier’s office door she heard him telepathically invite her in.
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Emma badged into the office building and headed toward her room.
“Ms Frost, a man came in here just a bit ago and insisted he wait in your office. I tried to stop him but--”
“It’s quite alright Sarah, I have been expecting him.” Emma walked right past the receptionist and to her office.
Opening the door she found Dr Essex in her office reclining in one of her chairs. “Don’t worry.” He said. “I have not been waiting long.”
Emma proceeded to her desk and put her purse and coat away. “I assume you have plans on how to continue, I’m just interested in what must be so important that you would appear in my office rather than send me a message.”
“My dear, can’t a boss meet with his employee? Think of this as a 1:1.” He sat up straight. “But yes, I have come to discuss our next steps. We unfortunately had to release the women we had with nowhere to place them. However, not all is lost. You see I have backups of all the data at a remote location and have started making preparations to pick up where we left off.”
“Do you really think we can perform the same trick twice?” Emma asked.
“There will be no need to take that route. I have collected the samples I need and we can being the next phase with some….modifications.”
“What did you have in mind?” Emma asked as she poured herself a drink and motioned to Dr Essex if he wanted one.
He shook his head to signal that he was not interested in imbibing. “I believe that perhaps we should instead go the old fashioned way. There is no need to complicate the process that mother nature created.”
“Interesting.” Emma said, sitting down. “And how do you plan to go about forcing mutants to procreate? And which mutants were you planning to do this with?”
“There will be no forcing my dear.” He laughed. “That matter will happen on its own. We will be focusing on obtaining their genetic material. As for who…” He leaned in, “I believe you’re going to enjoy this very much.”
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Wanda reclined in her bed, mentally manipulating a 3D metal brain-teaser. All things considered Wanda’s room was the most tidy in the house. It was still cluttered and the furniture was poorly maintained. The curtains needed to be cleaned and the walls had cracks in them from both Lance’s fits and lack of care.
She had been working on fine-tuning the precision of her powers as well as trying to manage her rage. She struggled to focus on the task at hand, continuing to catch the same two pieces on one another. Between the noise downstairs and her thoughts being pulled back to the recent abductions, as well as her attempted one, she was struggling to keep a handle on her rage.
The house shook hard enough to knock a picture off her wall and that pushed her over her edge. In one fluid motion her rage brought her out of her seat and ripped the brain-teaser into two separate pieces. They hit the floor and landed among similar puzzles that suffered the same fate. She threw open her door and marched to the stop of the stairs.
“LANCE!” She yelled.
“What?” Lance said, standing behind her.
“Was that not you?”
“No.”
The house shook again.
“Pietro!” Fred yelled. In less than the blink of an eye Pietro had run upstairs and was hiding behind Wanda. Wanda elbowed him to get him away from her.
“What is going on?!” Wanda demanded.
Fred rounded the corner holding an empty take out container “That was MY left overs!”
“You hadn’t touched them in like a day! You snooze, you lose!” Pietro said.
“You two are absolute CHILDREN.” Wanda seethed.
Lance couldn’t help but feel like the events that were unfolding in front of him were muted somehow. Phone in hand he had his text history with Kitty open. He had drafted a message a half a dozen times to her to see how she was doing. Unsure if she was feeling the same way Tabitha was or not. At the thought of Tabitha he glanced over at her bedroom door. She still hadn’t come out yet.
What good was being with the X-Men if they couldn’t keep Kitty safe? If he had been around she wouldn’t have been taken at all he thought. But he knew she wouldn’t leave the mansion. And he would never go there. He stuffed his phone in his pocket and closed his door, hoping to ignore the spat that was going on in the hall.
He slapped on his headphones, turned his music all the way up, and tried to think about what exactly he desired to tell Kitty, and why he felt like he needed to say it at all.