PREVIOUS PAGE – NEXT PAGE
TEASER | ACT I | ACT II | ACT III | ACT IV | TAG
1X03 – Alekhine’s Gun – Act II
“Has she given you much trouble?” Duncan asked casually as he examined the young woman. She looked like hell but nothing unreasonable for a woman who fought off several tactical assault agents.
“About as much as expected,” Cooper’s tone was just as light, “she’s knocked out several agents. A few were idiots who didn’t take proper precautions, but then she started kissing those who she couldn’t touch otherwise.”
“She’s resourceful,” he replied wryly.
“Yes, well,” Cooper cleared her throat, “we’re learning much about how her ability works and she’s gotten nowhere.”
“The Brotherhood won’t let her sit for long,” Duncan pointed out, “she’s one of Magneto’s favored Acolytes, not to mention Mystique’s adopted daughter.”
“We’ve taken precautions against the shape shifter,” Cooper waved him off, “as you’ve seen on your way in here.”
“Rental readers, fingerprints,” the fed mused, “two things a shape shifter can never get quite right.”
The door to the interrogation room opened up and a man walked in, short brown hair to match his suit. Duncan recognized him as Frank Lowell, the new CIA liaison to the Council on Superhuman Affairs, “He’s doing the interrogation? The CIA has no charter to perform operations on American soil.”
“I’m very aware of this,” Cooper didn’t bat an eye.
Lowell laid a rather thick brown file on the table in front of the mutant Rogue and flipped it open. He spent several minutes perusing the file, not giving the woman more than a second glance.
“If it would make you more comfortable,” he didn’t bother looking up, “we could get you some fresh clothes. Even arrange a shower.”
“My hero,” she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and looking completely disinterested.
“Mutant abilities or no, you’re still a human being,” he glanced up at her, clasping his hands together in front of him, “there’s no reason for us not to afford you some reasonable accommodations.”
She tilted her head thoughtfully, “Is that before or after the water-boarding starts?”
“You shouldn’t believe everything you see on the news,” Lowell said dryly, “besides, I doubt it would work on you.”
Rogue’s eyes gained an intensity not usually seen on someone so young, “You have no idea, sugah.”
“No, we don’t,” the CIA agent didn’t seem fazed by her, “and that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? Help us to understand you, Rogue, understand why the Brotherhood feels the need to be so aggressive.”
“And maybe next you can get me a spot on Dr. Phil,” she rolled her eyes.
“She’s using humor as a defense mechanism,” Duncan mumbled out loud.
“She’s not stupid,” Cooper added, “she knows this is just the warm-up round.”
“Let’s see,” Lowell didn’t rise to the bait, instead went back at the file in front of him, “our dialect experts are positive that your accent is Mississippian, however, the exact region is unclear, likely because you haven’t been back there in awhile. This goes with reports that you were ‘adopted’ by Raven Darkholme, aka Mystique, when you were young, twelve, thirteen perhaps? How does one become adopted by a shape shifting assassin by the way?”
“I’m trying to sell my story to the Hallmark channel,” she smiled sweetly.
“Then of course there is Allderdyce and the Maximoff’s,” Lowell continued on, “Darkholme ran a regular boot camp for future Brotherhood inductees. Did you even have a choice to become an Acolyte?
“Hhmmm,” Rogue pretended to think about that for a second, “fight, or sit back and let the weak and fearful destroy me simply because I have the audacity to exist.”
“Let’s talk about your mutation,” he flipped a few pages, “the leech or succubus power is not exactly rare but it is uncommon, and your mutation in specific, well, we’ve not seen another who can mimic mutations so completely.”
“If you do, let me know,” she replied dryly, “I’ll sue for copyright infringement.”
Lowell mused for a moment. “The fact that you knock out your victim suggests it’s energy based, but does it have a biological component, do you actually mimic the other mutant’s DNA?”
“What can I say?” she grinned devilishly, “I make men weak in the knees.”
“As for your secondary mutation,” the man moved on admirably from that, “how would you classify that, telepathy?”
“Schizophrenia,” Rogue answered flatly.
This caused Lowell to pause and look up, “So, you hear voices then?”
Rogue must have realized her mistake and leaned back in her chair as far as she could go being cuffed to the table.
After a pause, Lowell flipped the file closed, “I think that’s enough for the moment,” then exited the room.
“Rogue realized she screwed up,” Duncan said thoughtfully, “she’ll be more on guard.”
“Then we’ll give her a chance to let her slip up again,” Cooper gave him an approving smile. “That was quite informative.”
“Yes, it was,” he had to agree.
Lowell stepped through the door to join them, “Did you catch it?”
“Yes,” Cooper nodded, “her mutation is her weak point. It was subtle, but when you referred to it as a succubus like ability, she did not like that at all.”
“It’s what led to her mistake,” Duncan added, “she let her emotions out.”
“Next question is,” Lowell turned to Cooper, “do we go again now, rack it up a notch, or let her stew a bit?”
“Good question,” Cooper turned back to look at the girl, “she’s not your typical case… give what we have to the psycho-analytical guys, see what they say. And I want agents working double time, someone out there has to know who she is, where she came from.”
“You know,” Duncan said quietly, “there’s a rumor that even Mystique doesn’t know Rogue’s full story either, what her birth name is.”
Cooper was not to be deterred, “Then that’ll give us even more of an advantage when we find it.”
…
“Again,” Logan commanded and James Proudstar moved forward to attack the much smaller Kitty Pryde.
Kitty grabbed his arm and twisted it sideways, then turning her own body around she pivoted causing the sixteen-year-old who was built like a footballer to tumble over her and land on his back.
While Kitty was quite proud of herself, Logan and JP were shaking their heads.
“What?” Kitty said as she stepped back to let James up, “I took him down.”
“This time, Apache,” Logan gave the young man a look, “actively fight back.”
“Okay,” the darker skinned Native American shrugged and got into position.
“Again,” the short man commanded.
James moved forward and Kitty grabbed his arm but he was quicker, not super-human quick, just quick, using his own strength to pull her up against him. Within seconds he had her thrown over his shoulder.
“HEY!” Kitty pounded on his back.
“Let her down,” Logan told the man who dropped Kitty on her feet. “Do you know why he got you that time?”
“Cause his mutation is super strength?” she pouted, pinging a finger off one of his muscles.
“No,” Wolverine stared her down, “it’s because you’re too slow.”
“Slow?” the girl looked insulted.
“He’s right,” JP nodded, “slowing it down works for learning the moves, but now you got to step it up. The enemy won’t stand there and wait for you.”
“Right,” she said through frustrated teeth.
“Again,” he gestured between them, “Kitty, you speed up, James, don’t let her take you down.”
This time when James attacked, Kitty managed to get slightly farther than before but the bulky man tossed her around like a rag doll and she ended up on her rear.
“This is getting so old,” Kitty grumbled.
…
“What you doing?” Pyro slid next to Piotr on a park bench, a cup of coffee in his hand.
“Waiting for Dom to return, as are you,” he continued with what he was doing, sketching two elderly gentlemen who were playing chess.
“Hey, that’s pretty good,” the fire mutant was looking over his shoulder, “ever considered showing off your work on a professional level?”
“Because having one’s art shown in a gallery constitutes a low profile,” Piotr said blandly.
Pyro laughed heartily, “Ah, man, I can create another fake ID for you, something that’ll stand up to even the harshest art critics. You’d be surprised what you can get away with these days. Oh, unless you are hiding from the Russian mafia.”
“Pyro,” Piotr sighed, hoping that man would get the hint and be quiet.
“Come on,” Pyro nudged his arm causing him to create a streak on the paper, “the Brotherhood can be like WITSEC for mutants.”
“Wit-sec?” the Russian questioned as he erased the wayward line.
“It’s what they call Witness Protection in the US, I like the word, just rolls off the tongue, Wiiiiiiiiiiiit-sec” Pyro laughed. “Anyway, come on, give me a hint, is the mafia involved at all?”
“The Russian mafia does not exist,” Piotr tried a different approach.
“Of course it does…” the fire mutant eyed him suspiciously, “ah… I see… hhmmm…”
That kept the Australian quiet for a few minutes, but eventually Avalanche showed up, walking down the sidewalk. “What are you two doing outside?”
“He’s being artistic,” Pyro gestured to Piotr, then held up his coffee, “and I’m trying not to set the park on fire, well, more like just that gazebo over there. Did you know that they used a sealant that was recalled in the 90s because it was highly flammable?”
…
The three men returned to the hotel room and Pietro was drumming a pen against the counter, his feet tapping in a way that to some might look nervous, or antsy… but this was simply the product of a man who was tired of ‘keeping pace with everyone else’.
Pietro’s mutation was unique, mentally he moved faster than normal humans, not necessarily smarter, just faster. This meant when he viewed the world the way he naturally saw it, his body followed suit and moved at what to him was a normal pace. When he had to interact with people, he physically had to slow himself down which was very frustrating.
He once described it as standing in line at an ATM behind ten people who had no idea how to use the machine and with apparently no place else to be.
Technically he was always using his mutation, it was always on, like Rogue’s, however, it was more noticeable to Cerebro when he was running. If he wanted to get through the mission without attracting the X-Men’s attention he needed to stay as calm and as slow as possible.
Maintaining his composure regarding his speed, he chucked his mobile phone against the far wall as hard as he could, watching it break into pieces as it crumbled to the ground.
“Someone’s grumpy,” Pyro said cheekily.
“Stow it, Dundee,” Pietro shot back and continued to tap against the table.
“Someone needs less caffeine,” the fire mutant frowned and flopped down on the sofa, “or maybe more. I can never get that right.”
“Are you okay?” Piotr asked, putting his sketchpad on the table.
“It takes effort for him to maintain a constant normal speed,” Dom explained, heading over to the mini-fridge, “and everything is too slow for him.”
“I see,” Piotr responded and this led the quick footed mutant to snort.
“I doubt it,” Pietro slid off the stool he was sitting on.
“Who was on the phone?” Dom asked quickly.
“Magneto,” Quicksilver began to pace, “he wanted to know why we hadn’t taken care of the situation yet. Doesn’t look good, you know, having an Acolyte in custody.”
“You told him Rogue was info gathering, right?” Dom asked.
“Yes,” the leader continued to bore a hole in the floor, “and then Mystique not so subtly threatened me with serious bodily injury.”
“See, that’s a good thing,” Pyro grinned from his perch, “had she really meant it she wouldn’t have bothered threatening, she’d been here already and turned you into mulch.”
“I don’t think you’re helping,” Piotr frowned.
“Do we know yet when she’s being moved?” Dom interrupted, knowing that Pyro liked to goad Pietro when he was like this. Usually it was Rogue’s job to keep the peace but with her gone it fell to Dom.
“Don’t know,” Pietro shook his head, “but no later than Saturday I would think.”
“Are we sure we’re okay with leaving Rogue in custody that long?” Pyro asked in all seriousness.
“Rogue can handle whatever they throw at her,” that was one thing Pietro could be sure about.
…
Rogue was bound in cuffs at her hands and feet, a chain connecting both. They had learned she could use any body part to absorb and did as much as they could to keep her extremities to herself. The men took precautions, wearing gloves, long sleeves, and full facial masks. They could try covering Rogue but risked her finding ways of taking things off or at least exposing a small amount of skin.
Three of the completely covered men escorted her into her cell for the night, a small room with a built in cot and a toilet behind a privacy half-wall. Not the worst kind of cell she could be stuck in, at least she could maintain some dignity as she waited.
“You know the drill, mutie,” the biggest of the three pushed her forward and she scowled as she moved and sat down on the bed.
“Don’t try anything,” one of the others said, drawing up his taser gun along with his partner, “I don’t think you want to be tasered, again.”
“So many things I could say right now,” she smirked but let it go, she’d already gathered tons of information regarding the CSA and its hound, Cooper, she could forgo info gathering for a night and maybe get some real sleep.
The big guy uncuffed the chain that linked her hands to her leg restraints then cuffed her hands to the bar at the end of the cot which caused her to lean over a bit. He then knelt down to get the cuffs around her ankles. As he worked the metal around to get a grip on the keyhole, he paused, then ran a gloved finger up the side of her calf. When he got to her knee with no indication of stopping, Rogue jerked her leg away.
He wasn’t deterred and started to touch up the other leg causing her try to knee him but his other hand held fast on the restraints.
“What’s going on?” the taser wielding man asked.
“Did you know the little mutie here can’t turn off her little… gift?” Mr. Touchy-Feely chuckled, yanking the cuffs at her feet so she fell on her side and was being stretched on the bed. “Means the poor girl’s never been touched.”
Grunting, Rogue pulled against her restraints, trying to get some leverage to twist out of his grasp so she could kick him in the head, or preferably just below his torso. He pushed up her torn skirt and grabbed her thigh, using his knee to brace between her legs.
Only one man had ever gotten this close to her and this brute was sullying that memory, and while he couldn’t go very far due to her mutation, there was plenty he could do to violate her. Anger and fear crept up on her fast as she couldn’t get purchase against the bed. Tears threatened to well up behind her eyes but she wouldn’t give the man the satisfaction, nor would she whimper or cry out.
“Hey, stop,” Mr Taser stood up for her but he wasn’t exactly forceful about it.
“Oh, let him have his fun,” the third man said as Touchy grabbed her ankles and stretched her body out completely as she just managing to get loose.
With a grunt, Rogue twisted her body and kneed him slightly in the head but there wasn’t enough power behind it more than to delay the man.
“This isn’t fun,” Taser said, his voice confused, “it’s assault.”
“She’s a mutie,” she could hear the grin in Touchy’s voice, “ain’t even human, they say so themselves.”
“Looks like I’m in good company then,” Rogue bit out, “in here with other inhuman swine.”
All Touchy did was laugh at her, moving his body over hers as she continued to struggle against the cuffs.
“Stop it, Brent,” Taser shouted, “this ain’t right.”
Touchy ignored the other man, pushing her ripped skirt up.
Seconds later there was a pop-zap and Rogue felt herself jolted, her body receiving a mild current of electricity as it passed through Touchy. Unceremoniously the man collapsed onto her, knocking the wind from her lungs. She pushed her weight against him to roll him off and onto the ground.
“What the hell,” the third man knocked Taser in the shoulder. “Now we have to explain this.”
“I wasn’t going to let him rape her!” Taser shot back as Rogue pulled her legs under her, grabbing the bar to keep her body from trembling.
“It’s not like he could actually ‘rape’ her,” Mr Uncaring grabbed Touchy and started to pull him towards the door. “Whatever, we’ll say that she knocked him out.”
“What?” Taser stood silly between them.
“It’s our word against yours,” Uncaring then tossed the cuff key to Taser, “now sort out your girlfriend over there and let’s get out of here.”
Giving something between a sigh and a growl, Taser stalked over and started to uncuff her, starting at her ankles. “Don’t cause any more trouble,” he told her as he took the restraints off.
Trouble? Rogue nearly scoffed at him. She didn’t cause any trouble, it was all Mr Touchy-Feely over there.
“You better appreciate this,” he mumbled as her handcuffs came off, “I’m not going to hear the end of this from them.”
Rogue wanted to open her mouth and thank Taser for helping her but she was so taken aback by his attitude, blaming her for him having to be the good guy in all this. Instead she sat numbly as he moved away and helped to drag Touchy from the room.
When the door closed, Rogue drew her legs up under her and wrapped her arms around her knees. She wouldn’t cry, wouldn’t make a single noise, she wouldn’t let them have the satisfaction. Instead, she listened to the voices in her head, her friends, and attempted to believe them when they said everything was going to be okay.
PREVIOUS PAGE – NEXT PAGE
TEASER | ACT I | ACT II | ACT III | ACT IV | TAG
X-Men: The (fan fic) Series 
Leave a Reply