Who: Rogue What: She's not in Dr. Crane's lab anymore When: Tomorrow night Where: Somewhere not in Everett Warnings: Brief suicidal thoughts
Rogue spun around on her heel when she heard a twig snap not that far behind her. Her hands were outstretched, ready to touch anyone that got far too close for comfort as her eyes darted around, a sense of fear settling in the pit of her stomach. There were only shadows among the trees, every single one of them threatening to turn into the man with the burlap mask. She swallowed back a whimper and cautiously took a step back and then another, her gaze not once settling on any one spot. She heard another twig snap in the same direction as the first and she ran.
It was only yesterday that she had finally woken up outside rather than in the room she had been forced to relieve her worst fear over and over again. It had all felt so real that it had become hard to tell apart what was real and what wasn’t. Was this all in her head? Was she still back in the room with the man watching her struggle against the restraints? She didn’t know. She didn’t know. Either way, she didn’t stop running. Snow crunched underneath her shoes with every step she took, twigs snagged on her jacket and hair but she didn’t care, she had to keep running or risk the man taking her back. She wouldn’t let that happen, she would rather die than ever have to live through that again.
Out of breath, Rogue finally came to a stop when she tripped over a thick branch and fell down heavily on her hands and knees with a pained grunt. Her breaths came out in shallow pants as she waited to hear his voice, for the ground to shift before her into the room but neither of those things happened. Except for the crickets, she didn’t hear a single sound outside of her breathing. That couldn’t be right, could it? Rogue slowly rolled over onto her back and only saw the sky overhead. Okay, maybe she really was outside after all but that still came with the threat of the man changing his mind about releasing her.
She carefully got up on her feet and was surprised to see a playground not ten feet from her. It looked eerie cast in darkness, all alone and empty but that made it the perfect spot. She stumbled her way over to a tall jungle gym and climbed all the way up to the tallest slide. There was a small roof overhead and the walls enclosed everything but the entrance and exit of the slide. It hid her well enough when she laid down on her side, back pressed against the cold plastic. It wasn’t the safest place but it was enough for now. Rogue curled up into a fetal position and stared at the wall opposite her. She didn’t want to sleep, she’d made that mistake yesterday and she wasn’t willing to do that again. She didn’t really want to do anything but lie there and wait. Wait for what exactly? She couldn’t say. Maybe she was waiting for the masked man to inevitably find her, for Logan to show up, or maybe for death. The latter wouldn’t take that long, if she just stayed put the cold would be enough.
We don’t think so. We’ve already died once, don’t feel like doing it again.
Rogue’s breath hitched with terror. No. Oh god, no. She could already feel her consciousness fading and she didn’t have the mental strength to fight back, not after everything she’d been through the last few days.
Her eyes glazed over before they sharpened a second later.
“You should have let the other personalities shine through, Rogue. What do you think we did? We were waiting for just the right moment to take control.” A slow smirk spread across Rogue’s lips. “It’s not the body we’re used to but there’s room for vast improvement with your mutation.”
Rogue’s body uncurled and moved to sit at the head of the slide. “It’ll be fun to see what we can absorb and how long it lasts. Maybe even more fun than stitching vampires and wolves together back in that bunker.” They pushed off and slid down, feet landing on the sand with an easy bounce.