CHAPTER FOUR

The Blackbird landed on what was left of Alcatraz Island, the sun had just begun to rise on the horizon but flames and smoke still billowed from burt out cars the the shells of military out houses and bunkers. The last time the X-men had stood on this ground it was against Magneto and his close on four years ago, now as the X-men everyone of them, Hank, Storm, Logan, Kitty and Bobby, Piotr, Lorna and Emma and Warren stepped out caustiously onto the ground beneath the Blackbird. Storm walked to the front of the group and looked at them, they had been folllowing the events of the last few months, like everyone else in the wolrd had, on televison, the news reoprts every hour with the latest developments, of the ongoing war between The Brotherhood and The Avengers. All over the cure. Magneto had surrounded himself with mutants who had taken the cure and had become outraged when it stopped working and mutants who simply wanted to fight the establishment. Looking at their grim faces Storm thought back on the last forty-eight hours where life in the mansion had come to a complete stand-still, the continous new converage of what the had named "The War of the Atom" had held everyone's attention as news reporters repeated "more civilians have been killed in the mutant cross-fire", "The mutant known as Magneto is not holding back", "His elected generals are leading strategic and focused attacks on military strongholds based on Alcatraz Island where the cure was developed and furhter afiled at Alkali Lake" the most shocking report, the hardest one for the X-men to digest was "The mutant known only as 'The Rogue', Magneto's leading general has lead a strike team to Alkali Lake where the governement and The Avengers are based and have been working from in order to stop. One survior reported that 'The Rogue' did most of the damage attacking and killing 8 governement officials before destroying the entire base, her accomplises have not yet been identified but we can assure that they are amongst the Brohterhoods 'inner circle'".
       No-one wanted to believe that Rogue had joined Magneto, but it was harder for them to believe that she would kill. Logan had found it particularly hard to digest, he didn't want to believe that his Marie was one of Magneto's elected generals after what he had done to her. When he had sat down to watch the news video footage he couldn't believe that he was seeing his Marie maul and attack anyone she believed was against her. Now they stood on the ground which Rogue had helped desimate and Storm stood in front of them, worn out, emotionally from watching the distress and destruction thios war had brought and that her beloved student and friend had wrought.
"Ok team. You have your orders, find Rogue and bring her back to the Blackbird"
The final blow-out between The Brotherhood and The Avengers had been caustiously televised, and the X-men watched as Rogue had, quite happily taken her gloves off and thrown herself at her opponents, as she used the powers of others against The Avengers, but they had also seen her battle with the government agent Carol Danvers had ended in a glorious, nuclear like explosion that had spilt the golden-gate bridge in two "with casualties on both sides".
"The Professor hasn't been able to locate her exact position, but he believes that she is in the vicinity of the Golden Gate bridge. Warren you're our eyes in the sky, if you see her get her, radio us and let her know about any ohter surviors, Hank, Wolverine and myself are going to asses the Golden Gate bridge directly and its banks, the rest of you are to conduct a full scale search of Alcatraz"
Hank, Storm and Logan got back into the Blackbird without another word. The other X-men followed their orders. Everyone felt the same way, they were hoping to find her, but find her dead, because they couldn't comprehend what life would be like if she were alive.
Logan sat in his seat with a grunt and looked at Storm.
"Logan?"
He made no reply
"You have to understand she had her reasons, she wouldn't have done this without some conviction"
He still made no reply
"You should take some comfort in the knowledge that she wasn't herself, The Professor..."
"She killed eight people and you saw as well as I did what she did to that Danvers woman! The Professor hasn't been able to track her for months. We're not bringing Rogue back with us, she's dead, the sooner you all realise that the better we all be"
Logan had watched with quite fear as the explosion wiped out all the news cameras. He'd lost Jean and now Marie was gone too, he was heart-broken, he thought his life had ended when Jean's has but he was wrong, it had ended the day he found out Marie had gone Rogue, and joined Magneto, the man responsible for her near-death at Liberty Island. That was the last thing that was said in the Blackbird before they all arrived at their drop-offs. As Storm searched through the rubble of the Golden Gate bridge, Logan and Hank patrolled their respective banks. Logan wasn't looking for Rogue, he didn't want to bring her back, alive and he didn't want her to find her dead either, he wouldn't survive seeing her like that, he knew he wouldn't survive seeing her at all given the events of the last year, he'd rather live the rest of his life believing that she was still out there somewhere, travelling the world the way she had always wanted too.
          The sun had started to rise over San francisco, the smoke still billowed up into the sky as the fires began to breathe their last of the morning air. It had been hours since they had landed and there had been complete com-silence, Warren who had now joined Storm on the bridge hadn't found anything, the X-men were losing hope. Logan had given up and was sitting with his head in his hands when the radio crackled into life, it was Hank.
"Redevous. I believe I've found her, birng the Blackbird"
Strom had collected the others before landing near Hanks location. Logan and Storm were the only two to emerge from the jet, Storm walked slowly before sprinting to hanks side once he came into view. She collapsed to her knees beside Hank who sat a little way away from the bundle that lay at the shore, the tide gently lapping against the lifeless form clad in black. Logan walked up beside them and looke over at the lump laying there. None of them made a move towards it, there was a hesitiation, they wanted it to be Rogue but they didn't because if it was then they would have to admit that she did all those things they saw on the news. Eventually Hank walked over and pulling and the shoulder of the figure rolled it onto its back. Logan noticed the white-grey streaks it was her and he stepped closer, he was torn between walking away in anger and lifting her up into his arms and weeping. As Storm moved forwad and kneeling at her side she brushed her wet her from her cold-damp face, Hank felt for a pulse but hung his head when he couldn't find one, Storm stood up and placed he hands over her face in horror and upset. Logan knelt beside her, looking her over he didn't know how to react but simply looked at Hank and spoke sternly
"Lift her and bring her to the Jet" he stormed of as Hank and Storm shared a solemn moment over the seemingly lifeless body of theri former temaate and friend. Logan made his way onto the jet he looked around the other X-men, who looked to him for words of comfort and reassurance but he offered none, they didn't deserve ot be comforted, he knew after seeing her that they were all aprtially responsible for where she was now. he took the captains seat as Storm came in behind him, tears streamed her cheeks, the other X-men, Rogue's fellow students knew that when hank came back he'd have Rogue with him.

***

It was midday when they arrived back at the Mansion. Logan stormed from the Jet and passed out into the hall of the lower levels, the Professor emerged from Cerebro but Logan said nothing to him, he changed, got his bike and left the Mansion. Days passed before anyone saw him again. Hank brought Rogue into the med-lab with the Professor and Storm in tow, the doors to the med-lab closed behind them and the other X-men made their way back to the school, to inform the other students of what had happened.
           The Professor looked into the plae, veined face of the woman called Rogue, he didn't recognise her, not even with the whie streaks, anger and betrayal, life lived in fear and at war had changed her. 
"There's no pulse Charles"
Xavier looked at the saddened faces of Storm and Hank
"That doesn't mean she is dead"  Xavier spoke with hope on his breath "Leave us, go back to your students, they need you now"
Hank and Storm departed slowly and reluctantly. Xavier shed a tear for Rogue before placing his hands either side of her head. Stepping into her mind he saw the battle field that it was, the screaming and shouting the fires and smoky apparitions that filled the space inside her head. He saw the entities of his X-men, Logan, Bobby, Piotr, himself, he saw Magneto, Jon and Carol Danvers as well as some other  human and mutant entites he did not recognise. Amongst them he found Rogue, the Rogue that had come to the institute at seventeen years old as he reached for her he was shoved focefully from the inside of her head. Opening his eyes and looking at the body lying on the table he saw as her chest lifted slowly and colour returning to her cheeks, he tried once again to get inside her head, to talk to the Rogue that lived in there, held prisoner by the personalities of all those she had absorbed but he couldn't, as he came to her side he lifted her hand in his but nothing happened, it was as cold as stone, so he left in search of Hank.
          As he came into his office Storm and Hank sat there solemnly surrounded by the X-men that had been with them and those that had counted themselves as Rogue's friends. "Where's Logan?" when Xavier didn't get an answer he went to his desk and spoke authoratively from behind it "She's not dead" he looked up to the besotted, tear-streaked faces of his X-men, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief
"Professor?" Hank spoke
"She's in acoma" That was the last word spoken in that room. 

***

Logan returned at the end of the week having escaped to Laughlin to drink and fight his pain away. As he came into the Institute he heard how life had returned to normal, he walked out into the main hall, the sutdents were moving between classes, chatting as if nothing had happened. It had been a week since they had found Rogue dead and noone seemed to have been affected by it. He made his way towards Xaviers office enraged, storming through the door he interpreted Xavier in converstaion with Hank
"We'll have to move her somewhere Charles, I simply don't have the equipment to monitor her here or the staff to look after her"
Xavier caught Logans eye
"It's good to have you home old friend, we have been rather short-handed without you"
"What the hell is going on!" he exclaimed
Hank and Xavier exchanged a glance and Hank stepped forward
"Rogue's not dead Logan"
"She's in acoma" Xavier spoke softly
Logan simply looked at them before leaving the room. Hank followed him "Logan, she's non-responsive"
"But she's alive"
"Barely"
Logan stopped short and looked at Hank "What do you mean barely? Is she alive or not fur-ball!"
"She's is alive, but her vitals are weak, she's non-responsive. Whatever she went through was to much for her systm to cope with, it looks like she suffered serious head trauma when she landed and Charles can't get inside her head either"
Logan took time to look at him "As long as there is breath in body I'll want to see her Hank" Logan moved away
"I thought you stopped caring about her a long time ago Wolverine" as he moved back towards the Professors office

***

Logan hovered over the pale Marie like figure that lay on the table. He ran his fingers down her arm, all the tubes and wires coming out of her angered him. He noticed the cuts and brusies, the blatant gaping wounds along her sides and chest. her noticed three glaring holes in her right shoulder, familar markings, he walked over and ran his finger over each one before taking her hand in his and placing his other hand tenderly on her cheek. Tears ran down his cheeks as he felt he smooth, ice-cold skin against his rough, warm hands, he whispered
"I'm sorry" into her ear, before lifting her gently into his arms and holding her "I promised to take of you and I failed".
The next morning after discussing it at great length Hank and Xavier had decided to take Rogue and place her in the care of Moira McTaggart. Logan argued that she should stay with them in the Mansion but he knew it was futile, just like before there was nothing more they could do for her here> Logan watched morunfully as they loaded her into the Balckbird and took off. It would be months before he'd see her again in the halls of the Mansion.