Chapter Fifteen: Illusions

"You okay, chere?" a voice asked in the darkness.

"I'm afraid that I may have pushed her too hard," a regal tone answered for the sleeping girl. "Our last training session was quite intense."

"Does she need to be healed?" a girl inquired. "I can go get Anna."

"She isn't here right now, and besides, that won't be necessary…"

She opened her eyes slowly, squinting in an attempt to make the blurry figures connect in a way that made sense. Magneto's aged face came into focus first, then Gambit's stubble-clad jaw, followed by Wanda's worried, blue eyes. "Where am Ah?" she whispered, still woozy from her slumber.

"In de 'firmary," Remy replied, sweeping his fingers through her chestnut hair. His cat eyes spoke of relief, and he smiled. "Glad yoh okay."

"Make sure she gets plenty of fluids," Erik instructed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some pressing matters I must attend to elsewhere."

The Master of Magnetism sauntered off, only to turn at the door when his daughter asked him to wait. "Follow me, dear," he said. "We can talk on the way to the lab."

Wanda bit her lip pensively. "Are you sure Rogue's okay. I mean she did try to kill herself before. Couldn't this have been-"

"Another attempt?"

She nodded. "I'm just worried about her…" Wanda did not have a reason to, besides that Rogue and she had become good friends over the last few weeks, but something in her subconscious screamed at her that something was wrong. That she'd seen things done before… red on white walls… the blue skin of a poisoned human… needles and syringes. The images alarmed her. She knew that she had attempted suicide before- she was in the hospital for a night. But that place in her mind wasn't a hospital… it was something much more disturbing.

Magneto smiled benevolently. "It was only exhaustion after a training session. I'm afraid that the new collar might be a little hard for her to control. After all, she no longer can rely on skin-to-skin contact to absorb anything by default. She must will it to happen."

"Can… can the collar help me control my powers?" Wanda asked. She knew that her frequent fits of rage had compromised the team more times than she wished to believe. "Can I simply will things to happen, too?"

"You already will things to happen," he responded with a smirk. "You just need to learn how to make sure the will is what needs to be done, not purely instinctual. The collar will not help you with repressed feelings. You need to control your anger on your own. Besides, as annoying as it may be for a father to have his daughter constantly at arms with everyone, I think your anger gives you power, limitless and furious power."

She stared at her gloved hands in amazement, working them into fists, as though she were the mutant that her father spoke of. Something told her that this was not the first time she heard the comment, but not from her father. Erik wanted to keep her temper at bay. "You mean-"

"Do you think I raised you for nothing?" he asked. "You know your father is not a kind man without reason. You are strong, Wanda. Stronger than your brother. Stronger than many of the fools in this house. You can get whatever you want with prowess like yours. So, the question is, what do you want?"

It was a rhetorical question, as Magneto disappeared into the lab. The Scarlet Witch leaned against the metal wall in thought. What do I want? she asked herself. Power… revenge…She imagined herself at the Bayville mall, demolishing everyone in her way, embarrassing the X-Men. She was angry about something, and Mystique stood in the back, smiling. She vaguely remembered her days in the Brotherhood, back when she was angry at her father. Back when she was foolish. Am I still angry at him? …Or am I angry at someone else?

The infirmary door closed down the hall, and Wanda frowned. She remembered how she used to hate Rogue. How she got everything she wanted. How she joined the Acolytes and suddenly she had charmed every male, including Wanda's own father. He treated her like some pet. A few seconds ago, he spoke of Wanda's limitless power. More limitless than Rogue's?

The thought was not welcome and fleeting, but she couldn't help but fight the jealousy rushing over her.

x x x

"What happened in de session?" Gambit asked. He and Rogue were cuddling on his bed, and she still seemed a little out of it, or at least, not herself. He stroked her pale arm.

"Ah don't even remember it, honestly," responded Rogue with a tiny yawn. "Actually, Ah don't remember any of last night, or really, much of the nights before."

"Don' even 'member dat you been madder den a hornet at Gambit lately?"

She grinned at him. "How could Ah be mad at someone as cute as you?" Rogue asked, kissing his nose playfully. "Ah don't care now, so it must've been PMS." Her smile turned into a smirk, a seductive one that Remy had never seen, but did not entirely dislike. She ran a bare finger along his angular jaw. "Ah just remember that we never really got t' test out this wonderful collar of mahn."

Remy's eyes opened wide as she climbed on top of him and began to kiss him deeply. He pushed her away, earning a little whimper of protest from Rogue. "Take it slow, chere. Gambit wants dis probably more den you do, but I don' want to… you ain't actin' like yohself."

"Maybe because Ah ain't never had the chance t' act this way," she purred.

"But de trainin' session…"

"Ah feel fahn," she assured him and kissed him once again. He stopped fighting and responded passionately. She pulled away quickly, struggling out of her tank top. He stared up, amazed at her beautiful torso, now completely bare. The skin was warm and smooth as his calloused hands explored what was offered. She sighed, one of the most beautiful sounds Gambit ever heard.

"Ah want you, Remy LeBeau," she whispered in his ear huskily as she worked his tee shirt eagerly from his body.

He flipped her so that he was on top. She smiled shyly up at him as he replied, kissing her neck softly, "I want ya too, petite pomme. Je t'aime. Want nothin' moh den t' be wit you."

"It sounds so much better in French," she said with a laugh. This time, Carol did not offer unwanted advice, or even interrupt. It was completely quiet. She let herself be taken by the desire burning in her body. She loved this man. Something inside her told her that this might be the only night she could spend with him, but she ignored the thought. Rogue had to focus on the here and now, not stupid superstitions. "Tu is so informal, call me Anne, Anne Darkholme. An don' tell nobody mah real name."

"Annie," he breathed, capturing a fierce kiss from her lipstick stained mouth. "Gambit'll never share yoh name, but he gonna tell everybody 'bout you…"

x x x

"Jesus," Pietro complained, surfing through television channels in the living room. "You can here them going at it in here!"

Pyro grinned, playing with a lighter. "Nothing I like more than the sound of a woman moanin'. But, damn, Gambit's really encouragin' her, too. That sheila sure is a beast in bed. But I guess ya can't blame her, havin' been locked in a cage for so long."

"Ugh," Wanda snapped. "It's completely disgusting."

"You're just saying that because you're a lesbian," her brother remarked.

He found himself, chair included, flying into a wall so hard that the wood splintered beneath him. "Hey, you fucking psycho!" he bellowed. "Can't you take a joke? Or are you jealous some one is making Rogue happy?"

"Shut up, you blithering idiot!" she yelled as her hexing powers went haywire. Pyro and Colossus dove for cover as everything in the room seemed to be flying into walls. "I don't feel that way about any girl, lastly Rogue! And you should be one to talk, for the way you follow our father around like some little lapdog."

"What does this have to do with Dad?" he asked.

"Ugh! I'm going to my room!" she yelled, storming off. The floating objects all over the living room finally dropped. The three men wiped their brows with relief.

"What's gotten into her?" Piotr asked.

"Who knows?" Quicksilver replied. He rose from his chair. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."

x x x

"What was that?" Magneto asked Pietro as he passed by on the way to his room.

He stopped and looked at his father. "Oh, Wanda just blew up, that's all."

"She is so out of control," he said testily. "That's why I'm glad I have you."

"Me?" he asked incredulously. Although Pietro was the "leader" of the gang, he always felt that it was a hoax, that Gambit or someone else was more of the shot-caller. Magneto had never paid enough attention to his son, except when he needed errands. Now he was saying this?

"You're a lot more powerful than you think," Magneto said. "Remember what you did to all those cars in Bayville? That's just a test of your true prowess. Powers that are in check, in your complete control, unlike your sister's."

Quicksilver mulled this over and was pleased with the thought. "Thanks, Father."

Magneto smiled.

x x x

Mwahahahaha Magneto may be the Master of Magnetism, but Mystique is the Master of Manipulation.