“ Hey, Rogue,” Scott said and smiled at her. It was Saturday and most of the students were with their families or anticipating in one of the activities the teachers had arranged.

Some activities were more popular than others. Kurt, the new German teacher and a very religious man, held Bible meetings and interest for that activity wasn’t the highest on a sunny Saturday. Especially the non-Christian students had been a little offended by his class even though Kurt would never try and preach, only inform.

Only Rogue sat all alone in the garden of the mansion.

“ Mr. Summers! You startled me,” Rogue said and smiled strained at him.

“ May I sit?”

Rogue nodded.

“ You don’t want to be with the others? They worry about you, you know,” he said, his voice showing his own concern for her well being.

“ Ah know, but Ah’m….” She didn’t know what to say.

“ You miss Logan,” Scott observed gently but in his voice was a hint of steel.

She looked sharply at him.

“ Yeah,” she admitted miserably.

“ It’s okay.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“ I miss Jean” Scott admitted, his voice filled with pain and spoken so quietly that she could barely hear it. She smiled sympathetic at him and lay her gloved hand over his. He looked surprised at her.

“ It’s okay to hurt,” she whispered. “Ah know Ah do.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. Then he smiled at her. “What a pair we are. Logan comes back and leaves with Jean and all we do is brood. We should be happy for them.”

“We should,” she agreed. They looked at each other and then burst out laughing over the insanity of it all.

“Or not,” he said with laughter in his voice. Then he sobered up but still had a gleam in his eyes if she could have seen them.

“ Well, enough brooding. They have been gone for six months now. It’s about time we start living again,” he said determined. “Come on.”

He pulled her up with him and holding on to her gloved hand, dragged her with him through the garden.

“ Where are we going?” She asked amused. She agreed with him.  They had both been brooding for too long. It was time to face reality and move on.

“Out,” he simply answered and took her to the garage after having picked up their jackets; Rogue’s cape for her and a leather jacket for him that she would never have guessed he owned.

“Car or motorcycle?” He asked and looked from his red sports car to his black motorcycle. Normally she would always have said the car but this was a crazy time which bore crazy decisions.

“Motorcycle.”

Scott raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing. He threw her his helmet and she put it on.

“Jump on and hold on tight.”

Rogue did as he bid and they whistled by. Rogue found she liked the freedom of riding on the wind as it felt like they did and she now understood why Scott loved his motorcycle so much. She was glad that when Logan had left with Jean, she had refused to let him take the bike ( not that Scott wouldn’t have killed him if he did) because she hated riding it which had resulted in them leaving in Jean’s car. All too soon for Rogue’s taste, they stopped.

“Are we here already?” She asked disappointed after having removed her helmet.

Scott looked pleasantly surprised at her.

“You liked it?! Jean never…” He stopped himself but Rogue could see the pain in what he didn’t say.

“Come on,” he took her by the hand as they walked. Rogue found that she liked his touch through her glove. She felt safe with him.

“We’re at the Mall!” Rogue uttered surprised and happy.

“ I thought you would like it. I have driven Jubilee and Kitty out here often enough to know that women like shopping. A lot.”

“ I do but….Ah have no money,” she admitted embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about that. Today it’s on me,” Scott smiled and gave her his credit card.

“ Ah can’t …” she began, overwhelmed by his gesture.

“ I insist,” he interrupted. “Being with you…pleasing you….makes me happy,” he said seriously.

“ Okay, but you hold the card,” Rogue smiled as they walked into the Mall together, his hand still holding hers.

“ So, where do you want to go now?” Scott asked and smiled over Rogue’s happiness at shopping.

If only Jean had been so easily pleased maybe things had never turned out so badly.

“ There,” Rogue answered and dragged him with her into yet another clothes store. Scott carried all her bags for her and followed. As he went, he passed an old married couple.

“  Your wife dragged you to this? Don’t worry, you’ll survive even if you don’t believe so now,” the man said with a grin to him.

“ Adam,” his wife called and with a wink at Scott, he followed her out carrying her bags. Wife?? He looked at Rogue going through the store and smiled. He thought her the most beautiful woman in the entire store, the pictures of the models on the wall included. Yes, he could …He stopped even before the thought began. What was he thinking?

Scott went to Rogue and saw her look at yet another beautiful but thigh-length and bare-armed dress. With a sigh she let the dress go and walked over to look at clothes which would cover her body completely. Having seen her look of sorrow Scott felt a stab of pain for her. Following a sudden impulse he bought the dress for her and hurried over to her before she noticed he was gone.

“What do you think?” She asked and held up a sweatshirt in front of her. It was just like a million other blouses she had at home.

“ Well, I ..” Scott tried to find a gentle way to tell her that it did nothing to show her fine figure, when he noticed a two-part set. On the tag it said that it was white and a green he hoped would go well to her eye colour since he had never seen it. In the blouse was a hood.

“What about this?” Scott asked and took out the set for Rogue to see. She looked closely at it. “Try it on,” he suggested.

“Okay,” she agreed shyly. When she emerged from the dressing room Scott thought he should die because surely he had seen an Angel. The set fit her perfectly and did her figure every right. The clothes looked like a second skin and in her case a safe skin.

“You…you look stunning,” Scott got out as she looked puzzled at him when he just stood and stared at her.

“Thank you,” she blushed under his admiring gaze. “Ah’ll go change.”

She turned to return to the dressing room but Scott caught hold of her hand. She looked at him.

“Don’t. Keep it on,” he asked hoarsely. Something in his voice made her blush and she nodded.

Having paid for the set, they walked out in the hallway. They passed a pub and

Scott stopped.

“ You want to go have something to drink?” She nodded and they entered the pub.

Four men in black suits and dark shades drew his attention. ‘What are they doing here at this hour in clothes like that?’ he thought but forgot his suspicion when Rogue found a table for them and called him over.

“You want another hot chocolate?” Scott asked with a smile as Rogue emptied her cup.

“ No thanks. You want some more coffee?”

“No”

“Then let’s go,” She said eagerly, the thought of more shopping making her happy and Scott remembered that he had read somewhere that women often used shopping as a way to get over pain and loneliness.

“Where are you going, mutant?” One of the black clothed men asked as Scott and Rogue were to pass them on their way out. ‘I knew something were wrong with those guys,’ Scott thought grimly. He guided Rogue behind him.

“ Look, we don’t want any trouble. Just let us pass,” Scott said, his voice tight as he tried to pass them.

“You are coming with us, One-Eye,” another growled and placed a hand on Scott’s chest. Scott looked at his hand and raised an eyebrow. ‘Here we go’, he thought. Using the element of surprise, he grabbed the man’s hand and threw him over his shoulder using an Aikido move he had learned long ago.

“Rogue, get out,” he yelled and tackled the others. He could easily had used his eye beams and killed them all with a glance or buried them in rubbles from a ruined roof but he didn’t want to hurt anyone, least of all kill them.

“ But…” Rogue began worried.

“ Go!” Scott yelled and slammed his fist into one man’s face and he fell to the ground.

“ Noooo!” he heard Rogue yell but before he could find out why, he felt a sting like from a needle in his back and he immediately lost consciousness and fell to the floor.

“Scott!” Rogue yelled and ran to him, not caring that she was almost out of the pub and close to freedom. She knelled next to his fallen form. Tears came to her eyes but as she looked at the dark shaded men, only anger was in her eyes as she removed her gloves.

“Take her too,” one said and she felt a sting in her back like when Magneto had captured her. ‘Scott,’ she thought weakly and then lost consciousness.

“ Wake up, Mutie!” A voice demanded harshly and Scott felt a stab of pain in his stomach as the owner of the voice kicked him.

“I’m awake,” Scott growled and sat up. He was in a metal cell and a chain ran from his left leg to the wall. His hands immediately went to his glasses and he found they were securely tight in place so he couldn’t take them off and fire his optic blasts. When he looked through the bars at one end of the cell, he saw a medical lab which would make the FBI jealous. Unless, of course, that it was the FBI who held him captive. Right now he ruled nothing out. It could be an enemy of the X-men like Magneto, a government organisation or some kind of anti-mutant group.

“Eat!” the guard said and ‘incidentally’ dropped the metal plate with food he had been holding on the ground. The food fell on the floor and Scott looked furiously at him.

“Oops,” the guard grinned evilly and began to leave.

“Wait. The woman I was with…is she here?” Scott asked, his concern for Rogue making him forget his pride and rule of caution.

“She’s here,” the guard laughed and left.

“ Wait. Is she alright? Is…” He quickly went to the bars but as he placed his hands on them, electricity ran through him and slammed him into the back wall.

“Ouch,” he mocked and rubbed his head. He looked at his hands and saw small burn marks on them. He wished he knew if Rogue was alright. He hoped the guard lied. He knew he had given her enough time to escape. He just prayed she had used it.

Uncertainty was the worst. He didn’t know if Rogue was alright and he didn’t know why he was being held captive or for how long he had been here. He had tried finding out if he was the only captive and had yelled for hours trying to get an answer; wishing to hear Rogue’s voice yet hoping he wouldn’t hear it. The stillness had been his only reply and it drove him crazy. He had lost track of time but guessed he had been captured for about one week because yesterday some guards had forcefully removed his glasses and he had been able to see without the beams firing! Even though all he saw was a prison his joy had been overwhelming. He could see. In colours. That wonder still held him up. He hadn’t slept the earlier night at all, afraid that if he closed his eyes the wonder of colours would disappear. He had just looked. Seen things like they really looked like for the first time since he was a child.

During his captivity guards had taunted him, saying he was like a animal in a Zoo. They didn’t say things he hadn’t heard before but it still hurt.

“Dinnertime, Mutie,” the guard said in a sing along tone of voice. Scott growled. The same guard fed him every night and he would ‘accidentally’ drop his food on the floor every day. Scott had refused to eat from the floor like an animal and had just drunk the water he was given but hunger threatened to very soon weaken his pride. Just the smell of the soup made his mouth water even though he was sure he would never have given it to a starving dog before his capture.

“Oh, I really am so clumsy,” the guard said with a leer as he dropped the soup. Scott watched with horror as the soup spilled over the floor.

“ You! I hate you!” Scott yelled furiously, days of humiliation overwhelming his control and reasoning. Seeing the guard was within range of his chain, he grabbed him and started beating him repeatedly with a rage unlike any he had ever felt.

“Help! Stop!” The guard yelled and in his fury Scott didn’t see the other guards before they forcefully dragged him away from the other man. Two guards held him back while the guard he had tackled came to his feet and wiped the blood from his bruised lip.

“I think this Mutie needs to learn his place. What do you think, boys?” he asked with a leer.

“Yeah,” the others agreed.

“You’re real tough when you’re in packs, eh?” Scott asked, his anger overruling his sense of reason. The guard he had beaten hit him hard on the cheek and Scott’s head flew to the side by the power of the stroke.

“Silence. You’re nothing, you hear? Nothing!”

Blows and kicks began to ran down upon him as all the guards began their ‘lesson’. When they let go of him and let him fall to the floor, he curled up in a ball in a failed attempt to protect himself. When unconsciousness finally came, he welcomed it.
 

“Raise and shine,” a woman’s voice demanded and slapped him hard in the face. Slowly Scott opened his eyes. He was securely strapped to a metal table in the lab he had seen. Naked and aching. In fact every bone in his body felt like an elephant had stepped on them or something.

“Who are you?” Scott asked and cursed the weakness in his voice. He hoped he didn’t look as uncomfortable with being so valuable as he felt and that the humiliation he felt with being naked didn’t show on his face.

“I’m Dr. Smith,” the woman answered, her voice like honey over steel. She would have been good-looking with long legs, sun brown skin and black hair if not her eyes glowed with evil and it twisted her face.

“What do you want?” Scott rasped, trying to look like he could take whatever she would choose to throw at him even though he felt weak like a kitten.

“The X-men.”

Scott tried to hide his shock.

“ Don’t know ‘em,” he denied, turning his face away from her.

“ I think you do, Mr. Summers. I think you do,” she forced his head back to face her as a scalpel appeared in her hand.

“And I think you’re going to tell me.”

“ Come on, wake up. This is no fun if you can’t fell it,” Dr. Smith’s voice came to him through the cloud of pain that covered his mind. Ice cold water was thrown over his naked body and he shivered and woke up. He was curled up in a ball on the floor, his body a mess of bruises and cuts and his back was one big bloody mess from Dr. Smith’s latest idea; whipping. He had been whipped before, long ago as a child, but this one had taken the price as the cruellest.

“This is pointless,” a man in a black suit and shades said. His posture said; ‘I’m in control here.’

“I have a feeling you could torture him till Kingdom Come and he still wouldn’t give his friends up,” he added. Especially not the one I need, he thought darkly. All the X-men would be interesting to study but Jean Grey… She’s the one I need just as I needed Summers, he thought as he looked with interest at Scott.

“Give me time. I‘ll break him,” Dr. Smith promised and gazed at Scott. A shiver not from pain or cold ran through Scott’s naked, weak body. He knew she was right.

“That’s probably true but I don’t have the time. I want this outlaw terrorist band, the X-men, captured or dead now,” he said and silently added; ‘All but Jean Grey who I need alive’. He knew better than to say that in front of Summers. Giving up information was like giving away power and he never gave power or knowledge away.

“You are not the only one on a schedule here,” he continued and his voice held a fanatic edge. He took off his shades and his eyes glowed red as he looked at Scott. The look in his eyes almost made Scott back further away from him but his pride and the pain in his body at his every move made him stay put.

“Bring the girl.”

“ Rogue! Are you ok?” Scott asked concerned and started to smile at her in happiness over seeing her until the pain in his broken and bruised lip turned it into a frown.

“ Scott! Oh, my God,” Rogue uttered in shock as she saw his broken body and tears fell down her cheeks over his pain as she tried to come to him but her guards held her back. First then did she notice he was naked and she blushed.

She is pretty when she blush. And her eyes…such a wonderful green. His pain filled mind admired her beauty. He was so happy to see her even under circumstances like these. When the pain had been at its worse he had thought of her. Of how glad he was that she was free. Of her beauty and innocence. Of  the happiness he always felt in her nearness. He had come to love those dreams where she visited him like a ghost from the past. But now she was here. It wasn’t what he had wanted for her, what he had hoped and prayed for. But even as his concern for her made him wish she was safe and far away, his heart was glad she was near.

“ I see we can skip the formalities,” the man said satisfied which he, of course, had known.

“ I’m not one who likes to hear myself talk...” He grinned at them. “…Who am I kidding? I love hearing myself talk but I’m losing patience here.”

He rudely grabbed Rogue by the arm and placed a knife under her throat. Rogue seemed unafraid but Scott could see the fear in her eyes.

“ Don’t …” Scott began, his voice pleading.

“ Now, lets do this again...” he looked annoyed at Dr. Smith. “ ..for the twentieth time at least. Where are the X-men?”

He pressed the knife so hard against Rogue’s throat that it drew blood. Rogue looked with scared eyes at him. Scott’s thoughts were in turmoil and the pain in his body made rational decisions even more difficult.

I can’t let him hurt Rogue yet I can’t give up the X-men. He’ll kill Rogue, he’ll kill the X-men. She is real, they represent a dream. Those thoughts ran through his mind but in the end his head won over his heart.

Please let me be right and forgive me, Rogue.

“You won’t hurt her. You can’t. If she dies, you’ll never find the X-men,” Scott sounded calm and certain but inside he was scared. He played a high gamble and the stakes was Rogue’s life. Scott drew a harsh breath as the man drove the blade deeper and drew more blood and a gash of pain escaped Rogue.

“ You’re right,” he admitted and removed the knife and throw Rogue into the guards arms. Both Rogue and Scott drew relieved breaths.

“ Tie her to the medical table and strip her.”

“ Nooo!” Scott yelled in frustration.

“ Noooo!” Rogue protested in fear and tried to get away from her guards but to no avail.

“ Stop! What are you doing to her?” Scott yelled and tried to stand but fell down on the floor again as agony ran through his body like fire.

“ Oh, are we a little weak? “ The man taunted.

“ Well, what we are going to do with her is entirely up to you. You tell me what I want to know and she goes back to her cell unhurt. You don’t…” He let the threat hang in the air and Rogue’s screams filled the room. They had tied her with metal rings to the table and began with gloved hands to tear her clothes apart.

“ Wait. Stop!” Scott yelled desperately.

He couldn’t let her go through this humiliation. He cared too deeply for her to sacrifice her for a dream. The man raised a hand.

“Enough.”

The guards hurried to move away from Rogue, who tried bravely to stop her tears.

“ If…if I tell you, you promise not to hurt her?” Scott demanded.

“ No harm will come to her. Now, where are they?” he asked eagerly.

“ Don’t ..” Rogue whispered.

“ Shut up!” The man roared and backhanded her so hard her head flew to the side.

“ Stop! Stop. I’ll tell you,” Scott yelled desperately.

“ Good. Now, talk,” the man demanded, his eyes glowing in anticipation.

“ They…they’re at the school. Xavier’s school,” Scott hang his head in defeat. To save an Angel he had made a deal with the Devil and most likely given his friends to Lady Death herself.

“ Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Scott didn’t even lift his head.

“ Names. I want names.”

All the X-men would make an interesting study, he thought.

Scott lifted his head and hate was in his eyes.

“ No!”

” What?” the man said surprised.

“ The X-men are more or less disbanded. You will be going after individuals.”

“ Don’t lie to me,” he roared and hit Scott hard in the face. “ I saw them as late as yesterday. A white haired woman led them and with her were six young people. They gave codenames to the press after having supposedly saved Senator Kelly’s successor from some other mutants, one of which was a shape shifter. They gave the following codenames: Storm, Shadowcat, Iceman, Firestar, Colossus, Jubilee and Gambit. You must know their names.”

Just children. That’s what they are. Most just turned 16 a few months ago, Scott thought sadly. Had the need for heroes really been so great that the Professor had allowed students to risk their lives for his dream? Or maybe they had been out searching for him and Rogue and had been sidetracked. He prayed for the latter.

“ I don’t know them,” Scott lied.

He couldn’t send children to their deaths. He just couldn’t. Forgive me, Rogue. Please forgive me, he thought sadly.

“ Hope you enjoy the sight of blood,” the man said and the last of Rogue’s clothes was torn from her with a cry.

Dr. Smith came towards her with a scalpel in her hand and Scott shivered. He had never imaged that so many tiny cuts could hurt so much. He didn’t want Rogue to go through that. No matter the consequences he couldn’t bear to see her hurt.

“ Wait. Okay, okay. I’ll tell you,” he hung his head in defeat and the man laughed.

“ Talk,” he ordered and with a nod made Dr. Smith leave Rogue be.

“ They live in Charmon St. number 4. Headquarters is in the basement.”

He prayed that his bluff worked. If not he had run out of choices. He had chosen that address on purpose. It was an abandoned warehouse on the farthest side of New York, away from Xavier’s school. He hoped they were held captive on the other side of town so it would take some time to check out his claim.

“ Didn’t you say they were at Xavier’s school?” He asked suspiciously.

“ I lied,” Scott said and looked him right in the eye.

“ I thought you would. Very well. I keep my word,” he turned to go.

“ Wait. You said you would let Rogue go to her room!”

“ I will when Dr. Smith has looked at her.”

He saw Scott’s look of alarm.

“ I would worry about myself if I was you. She is not allowed to be harmed in any way , just studied. You on the other hand I only need alive in case you lied to me. But in what condition...” the threat hang in the air and he walked to the door. In fact he wanted Summers alive for far more than that but he didn’t need to know that. After all knowledge is power.

“ Wait. Give me your name. I think I deserve that.”

The man turned around, his red eyes looked intensely at him.

“ You deserve nothing, but I shall grant your wish. I’m Frank Miller, FBI.”

Scott looked shocked at him. He wasn’t sure he believed him. If Scott should have given the man a name it would have been Sinister, for his eyes spoke of evil and power.

“ This is a cover operation, of course. Were one to ask this never happened,” Miller claimed and left.

Never happened. Right, that’s why I ache as all Hell, Scott thought darkly.

“ Now, now, dear pet. It’s back to only you and me,” Dr. Smith said with an evil smile.

I got to find a way out of here, Scott thought. He looked at Rogue who had tears running down her face. Be brave, my love, be brave. I shall get us out. I promise.

She smiled weakly at him despite her discomfort and humiliation at being naked before so many strangers. It was as if she had heard his thoughts. He knew not when his feelings for Rogue had changed but they had been there for a long time, he just hadn’t put words on them before now. He loved her, he knew that now. And he found that he had more to fight for, more to live for than ever before.

“ Let’s see. Hmm” Dr. Smith drew a blood sample from Scott and studied it under a microscope. She then looked at a slice of skin from Rogue, so small than it hadn’t hurt Rogue when she had taken it.

“ And you can’t control your powers due to a brain injury?” Dr. Smith inquired.

It had been two hours since Agent Miller had left and Dr. Smith had begun her experiments with pleasure. So far they hadn’t involved torture just studying. Scott was now placed on a metal table next to Rogue and just seeing her so close to him brought him comfort.

“ Do we really need to go through this again?” Dr. Smith sighed, as Scott didn’t answer. She leaned

over him and pushed on his chest, forcing Scott’s abused back down hard against the metal and he involuntary cried out in pain as the open wounds on his back was forced against the metal table.

“ Stop! Please tell her,” Rogue begged, tears in her eyes. Of all the pain he had endured, it was her tears that was his undoing.

“ Yes. The sun powers my eye beams. That’s why I can’t use them down here, wherever here is, as there is no sun,” Scott said in between deep, pained breaths.

“ Have you touched her?” Dr. Smith nodded to Rogue. Alarm bells ran in Scott’s head.

“ No,” he admitted shortly.

“ Right now your mutant powers are suppressed. If she touches you and drains some of your life force will she then give something in return? What effect will it have on your brain? Your eyebeams may not be your only mutation but the damage to your brain could have prevented any other mutant traits from developing. But what if she touches you …will your brain finally open up to any other powers you may have now that your eyebeams don’t work in a desperate attempt to save yourself?”

She sounded excited by her own theory.

“ Or you could die which would be unfortunately but I’m sure ‘Rogue’ here could keep me company.”

Dr. Smith was aware that Agent Miller wanted Summers alive but she too had a hidden agenda just like he did. Both Rogue and Scott looked horrified at the prospect that her words brought. Dr. Smith moved the two tables as close as possible and if one of their arms were untied, they could touch.

“ Now I’m going to untie your left hand but if you try anything Michael here…” she nodded to the armed guard who stood behind her “ …will kill Rogue, got it?”

“ Yeah,” Scott agreed.

I couldn’t hurt you even though I want nothing else, Scott thought grimly. He was still far too weak. She untied his arm and moved it towards Rogue’s naked one.

“ Scott,” she whispered horrified and tried uselessly to move away from him.

“Don’t do this. Don’t make me hurt him,” Rogue cried.

“ It’s okay. You have no choice. I forgive you,” Scott whispered softly, trying to comfort her.

“ Ah don’t want to hurt you. Ah love you,” she cried, saying what she had known for some time but hadn’t been able to say. But if he died by her hand, he should at least know the truth. He smiled warmly at her.

“ I love you too. Never forget that.”

Before they had time to say more words or even prepare themselves, Dr. Smith forced Scott’s weak and bruised hand onto Rogue’s naked one. Scott screamed in agony and Rogue cried in pain as she absorbed his memories, his powers and his life.

“ Scott, Scott please wake up. I can’t do this without you. I love you.”

Scott fought through the darkness and haze of pain to get to that voice. He was sure he remembered it from somewhere.

“ Oh,” Scott moaned and came around.

He was back in his cell, the metal chain around his bruised ankle hurt and he was still naked. His eyes fell on a woman with a white stain to her brown hair. She sat crushed on the floor, rocking back and forward, her legs pulled to her stomach and her hands around her legs and she too was naked. She was staring blindly out into nothingness while tears running down her cheeks. A flash of memory hit him. Him using his eye beams to free the woman from a car, him carrying her onboard the Blackbird, the X-jet, after her ordeal with Magneto. The memory ended before he could grab hold of it. The woman…he knew her…why couldn’t he remember??

With painful intensity the pain in his body returned and with it the memories of his shopping trip with Rogue, their capture and his torture.  Rogue! He loved her.

“ Rogue? Don’t cry. I can take anything but your tears,” he whispered softly and painfully moved closer to her. She still didn’t move, didn’t even blink.

“Rogue???” He whispered softly. He saw she was mumbling something. He bent closer to her to hear her words.

“ I killed him….I killed him….I killed him…” She whispered softly again and again.

“ No, you didn’t, love. I’m alive,” Scott protested but she didn’t respond.

*I love you. Come back to me. I need you. Please,* he thought desperately as his feelings for her went into overdrive. She jerked up and looked with empty eyes at him.

“ I need you,” she whispered tearfully, her voice and eyes empty.

*I need you*

That had been his thought. He had been around telepaths for too long to not get suspicious.

*Rogue, I love you. I don’t want to control you. Wake up now!*

Rogue shook her head and her eyes cleared.

“ Scott!” She said happily and almost didn’t stop herself as she reached for him.

“ Yeah, I’m alright,” he whispered and reached up and stroked her cheek. She quickly pulled back as if burned.

“ Noooo,” she whispered horrified. He looked confused at her. He loved her, didn’t she know or didn’t she love him back? Why didn’t she want his touch? Did they have an agreement that they never touched? Didn’t she like his touch? Was he doing it all wrong? Had someone hurt her in the past? Had he?? Something pressed at the back of his mind, the answer just out of reach.

“ I’m so sorry, Rogue. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said miserable.

She looked in wonder at him.

“ You could touch me,” she whispered.

“ Yes, of course,” he said confused.

Had he been unable to before? Because they had been in different cells??? He reached a hesitating hand out to her. A shiver ran through her but she didn’t draw back. He touched her cheek again.

“ We really can touch but how??” Rogue asked in wonder and joy as she took his hand in hers.

“ Why shouldn’t we be able to touch?” Scott asked confused. Rogue looked alarmed at him. Didn’t he remember? Had she held on to him for so long that she had permanently damaged his brain? She hoped not. She wasn’t sure she would be able to live with herself if she had done that.

“ Because Ah’m a mutant. Ah drain peoples life when I touch them.”

“ But not me,” Scott insisted and intertwined their hands.

“ Apparently not,” Rogue said happily and kissed him softly on the month, careful not to push too hard because of his bruised lip. He ended the kiss as the pain became too great even from her light touch.

*I love you Rogue. I wonder if we’re married?* Scott thought.

“ We’re not,” Rogue said.

“ Not what, love?” Scott asked softly.

“ Married, of course. Wasn’t that what you wanted to know?” She asked confused.

“ No, but I thought it.”

“ You have never had any telepathic powers before! Dr. Smith must have been right. You do have other mutant powers!” She said surprised. Her words brought back Scott’s memory of the experiment.

“ Now, I remember. I have to find a way out of here. Agent Miller will soon be back and know that I tricked him.” Scott tried to stand but failed.

“ You have a plan?” Rogue asked as she came and supported him so he sat on the floor supported by one of the walls.

“ Sort of. Can you see that window there?” Scott nodded weakly to a window at top of the end wall. It was very small, only an insect could come through it. It was made just for air and a filter prevented the sun from coming in if it was to the outside it led.

“ Yeah.”

“ If only we could reach it and see if it leads to the outside.”

Rogue looked at the window. Ah want to reach it. Ah want to. Ah want to, she thought desperately. It took a while for her to notice that she was coming closer to the window.

“ Rogue, you’re flying!” Scott said surprised.

“Hmm?” Rogue looked down and saw she was indeed flying a few cm’s above the floor. In her surprise she forgot to concentrate and fell down. “Oh!”

“ You okay?” Scott asked concerned.

“ Yeah, Ah’m fine,” she said and quickly came to her feet. Now knowing what to do she concentrated and flew up to the small window.

“ What do you see?”

“ Outside!” Rogue said in wonder.

“ Is it day?” Scott asked worried.

“ Yes.”

They both turned as voices filled the lab.

“ We can’t wait. We got to get out.”

He doubted he could take another of Dr. Smith’s special treatments.

“ Can you get the plate off?” Scott asked desperately.

“ Ah can try,” Rogue said. It was fastened on the inside as no one thought people capable of flying 2,5 metres up in the air. Using her fingernails she undid the screws.

“ Got it!” she proclaimed and sunlight came into the room in a small beam. Scott weakly got into the light.

“ Ahhhh,” he yelled in agony as the sun powered his optic blasts again.

“ It’s them. They are trying to escape. Shoot!” A voice yelled and Scott looked at the approaching guards with red eyes. One guard pointed his gun at Rogue and fired.

“ Noooo!” Scott yelled and jumped in front of Rogue, taking the shoot intended for her. He expected pain but felt none. As he looked at his chest there wasn’t as much as a drop of blood.

” Invulnerability. Another mutation,” he whispered. But was it Rogue’s mutation or his? Their touch seemed to have linked them in some ways and given them greater powers, or, as Dr. Smith had insisted, unlocked hidden mutant powers they had always had.

“ You okay?” Rogue asked concerned and flew down to him.

“ Yes. Get behind me. I can feel the energy is about to unleash.”

Before he could speak another word a beam of red energy shoot from his eyes and destroyed everything in front of him which was the bars, the lab, the guards, Dr. Smith and Agent Miller. He heard their screams before there were an agonizing silence. He had always been against any kind of killing but the fact that he had killed someone wasn’t what scared him the most. It was that he felt…absolutely nothing, not regret, anger or happiness over seeing his tormentors die. It was as if a piece of his soul was missing and he wasn’t sure if he could ever get it back. And that scared him. A lot.

He heard Rogue’s faint gash of surprise as he turned their jailers into crisp.

*I love you, Scott. I always will. If one day you feel the need to know…I forgive you. You had no choice* Rogue’s thoughts came to him and calmed him yet still he was worried. He didn’t feel anything. He wanted to be normal or as close to it than he had been. He wanted that naïve innocence he had still had when he was captured. He wanted to be able to forgive Dr. Smith and the others. He just wanted to feel, period. But he didn’t; he couldn’t feel with them. He had strong feelings for Rogue but that was all. He had gained his freedom but at a high price. The price had been a dream and a soul.

He closed his eyes tightly shut as not to let more energy escape.

“ Guide me to the wall.”

Rogue turned Scott towards the wall and with a glance he destroyed it. Weakened he fell to his knees.

“ Ah’ll take it from here, lov,” Rogue said gently and took hold of his hand.

Soon Scott felt himself fly. He grimaced as he felt direct sunlight on himself for the first time in weeks.

“ Sorry. Ah’ll try to stay to the shadows,” Rogue promised.

Scott used his new-found psychic powers to lift most of his own bodyweight so Rogue didn’t have to carry him though she seemed to do so with remarkable ease.

His thoughts reached through the distance.

*Professor???*

* Scott??? You’re alive. I’m so happy. But how?? You are reaching me across town. How can that be?* Love and happiness was in Xavier’s thoughts but also concern and confusion.

* A little experiment Rogue and I was forced to anticipate in. * Scott explained sending his happiness and love to him.

* Experiment??* Worry was in the professor’s thoughts.

* Don’t worry. We got away. We’re alive. We’re on our way home*

Home. Finally, they were going home.

Epilogue:

“Throw the ball, Mon Ami.”

“ Come on, Scott.”

“ Over here, Mr. Summers.”

It was Sunday and on Xavier’s school they played round ball, the European way.

Scott had been right that the students had only been out trying to find Rogue and him. Now that he was back but Jean still gone the X-men had lacked a new member. Rogue had joyously accepted that position. To keep an eye on him, she had told Scott with a smile. After their return they had found that Dr. Smith’s experiment had had far greater consequences than they had first thought. Because Scott’s powers had been subpressed when they touched, something that to Scott’s knowledge only could be done to his eye beams, Scott had gained his full mutation now, having psychic powers and the power of invulnerability. Rogue had gained the power of flight and super strength because of the experiment. And of course the power they both loved the most; to be able to touch one another.

After their release they had feared they would loose that ability with time but they hadn’t.

* Rogue, go high,* Scott sent to his soon to be wife.

* High, as in fly?* She asked wickedly through their bond.

* You know me well,* he sent with a smile. Maybe too well. After their return he had had to help her over the terrors she remembered from his childhood, something that had not been easy for him as it still pained him deeply. Luckily Rogue lost the memories and personalities she absorbed after a few weeks and her nightmares about his past had disappeared while his had returned. Now she had to comfort him at night. And it wasn’t just his past which haunted him, it was also the torture he had received at Dr. Smith’s hands. His body had been over a month to heal even with all the physic help he could get. But his mind….he feared it could take a lot longer if ever before it healed.

Scott jumped up from the ground and threw the ball to Rogue who flew up and caught it in the air.

“ Change of teams. 1 point more to Scott’s team,” Ororo said, being the judge of the game.

“ That’s so unfair. She can fly!” Bobby complained.

“ It was you who wanted the game to be with powers, mein freund [my friend (German)]” Kurt reminded him gently.

“ Sure, we wanted to. But only if we were to win, Mon Ami,” Gambit said.

“ Be fair. We’re playing students against teachers and we have a tie right now. We both have people who can fly. Firestar, for one. None were just as fast as Rogue,” Kitty said and Peter, her boyfriend, nodded his agreement.

“ Are we going to play or what?” Betsy complained.

“ And why do they get both Betsy and Angel?” John complained.

“ Because they’re both teachers, stupid!” Jubilee said.

“ Okay, do you want to play?” Ororo interfered.

“ YES!” The students yelled.

“ Ok, on your places.”

Soon the game was on again. Rogue came up behind Scott as they stood in the line to shoot the ball.

“ Hi, lov,” she whispered and enjoyed the feel of his skin against her as she pressed herself against his back. He turned around and smiled at her.

“ Hi, yourself.”

He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply.

* Oh, mi dolce amore [My sweet love (Italian)]. I love you so much, Rogue. You are my light, my dream. You are my reason for living. You are as necessary to me as the air I breathe.*

His thoughts came easily to her and with them a wave of warm and love which lay as a comforting blanket around her soul.

* And Ah love you. Now and forever, husband,* she sent happily. Their wedding was in two days and she could hardly wait. She had with joy discovered that Scott was a very romantic man and a very educated one as well.

“ Forever, Cara mia [Beloved Mine (Italian)], forever,” he whispered and kissed her again. A kiss promising forever. A kiss promising eternal love. A kiss promising a brighter and better future. A kiss sealing a love that had sprung from darkness but would last forever.

The end. I hope you liked...