WHO: Rogue (616) and Magneto (movies) WHEN: earlier this afternoon WHERE: the base and then outside of it WHAT: the worst reunion ever WARNINGS: May cause sadness
There were many things in this world that Erik despised - humans in general and Nazis tended to be on that top tier of hatred for him. But not too far behind, jail cells were a close second. And that’s where he found himself now, or at least, this base’s version of a jail cell. Normally, no cell made of metal could hold him, but there was some kind of dampening effect working against his abilities of magnetism. He was no stronger, no more special than a human at that moment and that was a feeling that he certainly didn’t take kindly to.
For months, his inner rage had been quiet, depressed by the events that had transpired a year ago when he had lost Magda and Nina. But being thrown into some other kind of world without his consent had woken up the beast made of anger that usually lurked under the surface of his skin. He had thrown fists, threatened to kill everyone, and, generally speaking, behaved terribly.
So he had been thrown into a cell to cool off and someone had come to try and explain what was going on. However, he had merely sat in stony silence, refusing to acknowledge anyone was speaking to him while his mind worked frantically to figure out an escape.
If only he could use his powers…
It was a phone call that Rogue had never truly expected to get; one that she had yearned for and dreaded with equal measure. There was no telling if this was the man she had known and shared a life with from what Peggy had told her. Not with how he had reacted upon coming out of the portal. The stubbornness and anger, the silence of not listening something that could have happened from any version of him, but a small part of her knew that the fact he wasn’t listening to anything and then asking for her probably meant this wasn’t her version. Hope was a hard thing to let die completely though and a kernel of it still gleamed brightly inside of her, a million excuses for why he was acting this way being proposed, as she’d made her way to the base.
She made her way directly to the cell he was being kept in, that little glimmer still burning away brightly within as she opened the door and stepped inside, ignoring whatever anyone else might have said. Including all of the voices inside of her telling her that was a stupid idea.
Rogue kept near the door though, watching him closely for any sign of recognition. She knew Magneto didn’t need his powers to hurt someone and a silent Erik Lehnsherr was the most dangerous kind they could have. Keeping in this cell without access to his powers was most likely only making him angrier and deadlier though.
“Hi, I’m Rogue. One of the mutants here. Wanna get outta here?”
Erik had briefly lifted his head to see who had come through the door now, expecting the brunette from earlier. It wasn’t though, it was another brunette with striking green eyes. He had been about to give her the same silent treatment he had given the other woman, when an unexpected set of sentences left her mouth. It sounded like a trick. It couldn’t be that easy, could it? But what did he have to lose by not accepting her offer? His freedom? That was already gone. And if they wanted to kill him, it would be easier just to shoot him now.
Slowly, he stood and approached her. He exuded danger with every step, but he did nothing, even when he got within arm’s length of the woman - of this Rogue.
“Lead the way,” was the only thing he said, as he waited expectantly.
Any glimmer of hope Rogue had was dashed with that one sentence. It took every ounce of willpower to hold herself together and not break down and cry in that instance, but there would be time for that later. Her broken heart hardly mattered when there was a very deadly Master of Magnetism to try and persuade to not twist the entirety of the base into rubble once she took him outside of the power dampers. She kept her expression as neutral as possible, despising the way he looked at her.
“Didja actually listen to anythin’ that they tried tellin’ you or sit here in stoney silence the whole time plottin’ their deaths?” she asked as she knocked on the door, her signal for them to open it and let them out. If needed she could drain him enough outside so he wouldn’t be a problem but she was really hoping she could talk a little sense into him. “Because these people ain’t what brought ya here. The portal that flung ya out all unceremoniously is. They’re just monitoring it because apparently it decided to bring through some sorta creature that killed the entire base of people that were here before us.”
She wasn’t even sure if he was listening to her now but at least the door slid open so she turned around, ready to lead him through the base and then hopefully outside. “And some of them are mutants so ya know, might wanna not go hurtin’ them.”
“I listened,” he answered, though he didn’t care to elaborate further or explain that he was perfectly capable of listening and plotting their deaths at the same time. Erik had only listened to gather intel, but there was no way of telling whether what they were telling him was real or not. He could only take them at their word and considering he knew none of them, their word didn’t mean much to him.
This mutant, though, the one leading him down corridors that were obviously military grade from the signs on the walls, she didn’t seem afraid of him. Yet, she seemed to know exactly what he was capable of. That mildly intrigued him, though he still didn’t have it in him to ask questions, not until he heard more.
Because it was obvious, from the way she was dressed to the clearly advance technology he was seeing as they were passing by windows into labs and offices, that this wasn’t 1983. He had heard that bit when Carter had tried to explain things to him earlier. He had somehow traveled through the future, through this portal they kept talking about.
Making notes of the layout of the building as they continued onward, it made him wonder which of the people they passed were the mutants that Rogue mentioned. There was no obvious way of knowing.
Rogue stopped briefly at one of the desks, taking a set of keys and one of the tablets that were given to everyone on arrival, before heading toward the door. She whirled around once they were at it though, watching him carefully. “I’m lettin’ ya know right now if’n ya try to use your powers on this base or anyone in it I will take ya down in a heartbeat once we’re through these doors.”
She held the keys and tablet out. “The keys’ll be to wherever you’re supposed to be stayin’. I ain’t sure where that is.” It wasn’t like she could invite him back to her home. Nor could she call it his home. It very much wasn’t. Not that she had any idea how she would explain this to her nearly one year old daughter. “This will connect ya to the network that has everyone else who’s come through the portal on it. So if’n ya wanna talk to people this’ll be your best way of doin’ it.”
“If ya got questions now I can answer them once we’re outside. I’m sure you’re wanting to feel the electromagnetic current around ya somethin’ fierce right now.” And with that Rogue pushed opened the door and stepped out into the heat, sliding her sunglasses down to cover her eyes as she kept a careful eye on him.
Taking the keys and machine she had offered wordlessly, he knew he would have to ditch the items at first chance he got. There was no way to know if they could track him through the items. As they approached the exit, the temptation to knock her out and make a run for it was pretty hard to ignore. But he did ignore the urge and played nice for now. No point in expending more energy for something he was about to seemingly receive. He didn’t acknowledge her warning, though he heard it clear as day, before he finally stepped outside of the building, passing by her, and whatever was dampening his abilities.
The feel of the Earth’s electromagnetic currents both soothed him and shocked him, when he realized that they felt different from what he was used to. He could only assume that this time travel thing was to blame, that the passage of time had changed the Earth’s currents. He stood deathly still, taking it all in. Then he breathed deep and turned his head just slightly so he could look at her. “I’m leaving. Don’t try to follow me and you won’t have to worry about taking me down.”
Then he turned to face forward and started walking away, keenly aware of the fact that he probably had a dozen eyes on him, even if he couldn’t see them.
“All you’re gonna run into is a town down there, Erik.” She didn’t move forward though, simply hovered slightly in the air, pulling at the currents with her own version of his ability and watched him steadily.
A million thoughts ran through her head, wondering what she else there might even be to say to him. She didn’t know how to bring up Anka Irene. Selfishly she didn’t want to, wanted to somehow save the girl from all the hurt that was going to happen by this man not knowing who she was. But her daughter’s existence probably wasn’t the thing to put forward right then anyway. “If ya head eastward ya might find the X-mansion. They’re probably getting ready for dinner and Charles would no doubt take ya in.” Or maybe not. It was always a toss up with that man when it came to Magneto.
The shift in currents when she called to them had him turning mid-step, to face her and marvel at the fact that there was someone else out there that could do what he could do. He studied her for a few long moments, his gaze steely. Suddenly, he hovered into the air much like she had, except he moved toward her. He only stopped inches away from her. Most people would be intimidated, yet, she still showed no fear of him. Who was she? “How do you know Charles?”
“I’m one of the X-Men from my world. Don’t become one in yours for a whole lotta more years. Plus he’s one of the few I trust to watch…” She caught herself just in time before saying our, because the baby wasn’t this man’s child. “My daughter.” Rogue shrugged before crossing her arms, uncomfortable with how close he was standing when coupled with that gaze. It was so different from what she was used to, from what she remembered and had yearned for nightly for far too many months. There was still no fear though, a little sadness beneath the bitterness that was steadily forming. “I’d have thought ya’d be a lil more curious about why I got your abilities but also ain’t surprised ya wanna know about the Professor.”
She glanced back at the building, certain they were all watching the conversation, most likely on high alert for what might come next. “If we’re still talkin’ can we maybe go up and away from here a lil more?” Because she didn’t feel like providing anyone a show.
“I’ve met more than one telepath, I suppose there could be more than one person with my particular abilities.” Having paid attention to the way she had spoken, he realized something. “But that’s not what you now just said,” he spoke, slowly as understanding dawned. “My abilities. You have my abilities, meaning you took them from me? How?” He wanted to get closer, shake her and demand the answers faster, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to find out why a woman in the future had his particular abilities. Thoughts of Nina floated in his mind, but he firmly pushed those suspicions away.
Following her line of sight back to the building, possibly to some cameras that she knew about that he couldn’t see, he waited until she was looking at him to give her a curt nod. “Fine.” Abruptly he turned and started flying, away from this place, away until he felt safe enough to land somewhere that could be classified as the ‘middle of nowhere.’
It took Rogue a moment to realize she was supposed to follow him and she hesitated, not quite sure that she wanted to. She could always turn around and fly home, forget this whole experience had happened and hide under her covers for the rest of the week. Let everyone else deal with his arrival. Maybe she could simply take Anka Irene and go live on the island for the rest of their lives, cut off from the rest of the world. It almost seemed like a great idea until she realized it was something her Mama might have done and that alone was enough for Rogue to erase it from her mind.
She flew effortlessly after him and landed down near him, but not as close as he had been to her previously. “As for an answer, its a two parter. My mutant ability is I can absorb someone else’s thoughts, memories, abilities and more if’n I wanna when I touch them. The second part….I’m sure the people at the base mentioned how people have come and gone before. How there might’ve been previous versions of ya around before? There was a previous you. He made sure I had his in case the portal ever decided to send him back to his world.”
Again, he could do nothing more than take her word for it and her word, as of now, meant nothing to him. He didn’t know what anyone would have to gain to put on such an elaborate lie, but he didn’t know if this was a case of the truth being so crazy that it couldn’t be anything but the truth.
“Why?” Erik questioned, stepping closer. “Why would this other me want you to have our abilities?” He asked, trying to figure out who this woman could be to him, to any version of him.
She stepped back this time, not at all wanting to answer that question, trying to figure out how to explain it without having to go into it all. But lying to Erik Lehnsherr never really worked out all that well. Neither did telling the truth always do anyone that well either with him. If anyone was between a rock and a hard place it was definitely Rogue at that moment. She had no idea when this man was from on the timeline of his world and she didn’t want to open any wounds that would never really close.
“He wanted to make sure I could protect our baby girl if’n he wasn’t able to no more. Which is why they called me to talk to you. But it's kinda obvious you ain’t the one I knew so they really shoulda reached out to Charles instead.” Not that she thought that would have worked out all that well either.
They had landed in some kind of clearing in a forest, when Erik had stopped and had chosen a spot he felt was relatively safe. But now, the forest brought back memories of his last moments with Magda and Nina, of the birds and the policemen that had come for him, who had ruined his life.
His heartbeat was throbbing in his ears as he took in her words, tried to process what she was telling him. Another version of him had been here. He understood that much. And now she was telling him that he had lived a whole other life, had a family, something he couldn’t claim to have anymore. Staring her down, his lip curled. He wanted to lash out, wanted to call her a liar, wanted to rip her apart for being so cruel.
But there had been that sadness in her eyes from earlier, the strange way she held herself around him. Why would she lie about this?
He had no answer for that question.
“I can’t be here right now.” And just like that, Erik turned and flew away. He couldn’t take her at her word, this stranger claiming that he had a family still, someone other than Magda and Nina. He would have to find Charles and see how truthful those words of hers were and then he could figure out his next move in this strange new world.
It wasn’t until she could no longer feel the steady pull of his electromagnetic signature that Rogue let herself finally feel all of the emotions she had been steadfastly keeping at bay. Her knees buckled at the onslaught of them, tears falling freely as she let out sob after sob. She had thought losing him to the portal had been the worst pain she would ever feel, but this, having him there and not being hers cut harsher than she could have ever imagined. She knew she needed to get home, to talk to Hope, to let the others know he was back, to try and explain any of it to Anka Irene, but all of that would have to wait until she had the strength to pull herself up off the ground. And as she gasped for breath between her sobs, Rogue didn’t expect for that to happen for quite some time.