:-)

When Steve finally got his hand released from the cast around dinner time he decided that he was going to see if Marie wanted join him. He found her leaning against her work table playing with a new E.M.P arrow she had made for Clint.

She twirled the arrow between her fingers as if it was a toy, and she didn't know what it would do if she dropped it."She seems a bit off…" He thought concerned before pushing the thought aside "Probably just from the beating she got at practice with May yesterday." She still hadn't noticed him.

He crossed his arms leaning against the door frame, before clearing his voice. She nearly dropped the arrow in surprise. He quickly went over and took the arrow from her hands, placing it gently on the table.

"I don't think it's a good idea you play around with it, considering what happened last time." He said raising an annoyed eyebrow at her.

"She's usually more careful…"

"Mah bad." she said her accent thick. "Odd… It's only usually thick when she's angry or yelling at Clint." He observed.

His brow furrowed and Marie licked her lips suggestively before leaning in to him "What are you doing Doctor D'Ancanto." He said angrily looking at her.

"That's not Marie…" a small voice inside his head whispered and he was inclined to agree with it.

In the eight months he had gotten to know her, she'd never be so bold… With anybody. "That's not how a lady behaves, sugar…" the flash of a memory was quickly pushed to the back of his mind, as he figured out a way to out the being in front of him.

The fake Marie shook her head realizing her mistake before apologizing to him. "Sorry."

He looked at her expectantly and she stared at him annoyed.

"What?" she demanded angrily. "Definitely not Marie.." "Are you ready?" He asked her, a plan having formed in his mind.

"Uhm, yeah 'course ah am." she said while looking around a bit uncertainly.

He sighed "Don't tell me you forgot… We're supposed to show Fury the Magnet-thing-device today." He said taking the device Marie had worked on for a couple of weeks now.

The fake Marie nodded. "Ah didn' forget, it just slipped mah mind." He placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her along "Then let's move it, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can get back to my training." She angrily swatted his hand off her shoulder and huffed.

He made sure he was half a step behind her at any given time. They made it to the open space of the control room that was bustling with life. Fury stood discussing something with Phil, Natasha and Clint.

They all looked up when they entered and Clint waved them over.

The fake Marie was about walk over and Steve saw his chance.

He dropped the device in his hands and grabbed her in chokehold while securing her arms behind her back one handedly.

The fake Marie yelled out in surprise and fear. Clint yelled out "Steve what the hell man!" and every gun in the room was trained on him. The woman in his grip struggled but he only held on tighter.

"EVERYBODY STAND DOWN!" Fury yelled out in anger at everybody "THAT'S A GODDAMNED ORDER!" No one dropped their guns, not even Natasha, when the woman started begging for help.

Fury took in Steve with his one good eye. "Soldier, report!" He demanded seriously pissed off. The tensions was thick in the air, and Clint raged while wanting to pump Steve full of bullets.

The woman struggled and managed to hit Steve with a wild elbow. He grunted. "Not Marie, Sir. Imposter!" He grunted out in response.

"Yeah, and why should we believe you!" Clint demanded calmly but with a deadly glint in his eyes.

"It..." He bit out. "Maybe I should have thought this a bit more through…" He thought as he noticed Clint's raging eyes.

Fury held up a hand for silence. He walked up to the girl and his best and most honest soldier, who claimed she was an imposter.

"Why did Mrs. Peers call your mother the day before your cousin's seventh birthday." He asked the girl, knowing that no one else but he and D'Ancanto would know the answer.

She struggled some more before angrily spitting out "To congratulate me on another aced test!" at him, knowing about the girl's genius in her younger childhood years.

In that moment Fury lived up to his name.

He grabbed her face in his hand and clenched as hard as he could.

"Who the HELL are you and what have you done with Dr. D'Ancanto?!" Clint dropped his his gun slightly, and every other agent looked on in surprise.

They'd never seen him so… well Furious. The woman laughed and and her skin started turning blue. "Mystique!" he spat out.

"I should have known. Where is D'Ancanto!? Where?!" he demanded gripping her face as hard as he could.

"You're too late!" she laughed mockingly and Steve felt his heart clench "She's with Magneto, and there's nothing you can do. Your beliefs of liberty and freedom will soon be nothing but broken memories." She laughed before turning into a wasp, escaping Fury and Steve's grip, and flying up into the vents.

Chaos soon followed. Orders were being screamed out at the agents around them to secure the vents, to track down D'Ancanto by any means necessary and to get their asses in to gear. "This is a matter of world peace!" Fury yelled out "No one will even take a goddamned break to piss before we've located either Dr. D'Ancanto or Magneto!"

Clint and Natasha hurried over to Steve having replaced their weapons.

"What the hell happened!" Clint demanded.

"I don't know. I went by to take her to lunch and she wasn't acting like herself. And I just knew it wasn't her!" he replied distressed.

Clint nodded "Don't worry, we'll find her." he reassured Steve and promised himself at the same time angrily.

"Who knows how long Magneto's had her for?! How did they even get her off the helicarrier!?" Steve yelled out and punched the wall next to him, leaving a massive dent and impression of his fist.

"I'd like to know that as well." Fury angrily said as he came to stand with them with Phil by his side, as Hill took over leading the crew.

Natasha who had been quiet during the ordeal suddenly muttered "New York."

Fury looked at her "Wanna share with the rest of the class Romanoff." He said and she ignored his pissed off tone

"New York." She repeated "They're in New York."

"How do you know?" Clint asked praying she was right in her assessment.

"The first attack on Marie was in New York. Foster was supposed to hand her over to an awaiting Creed." They all knew how that ended. "And Mystique said Liberty. She could have just stopped at freedom, but she didn't… She's in New York."

Fury stared at her. "You're basing your assessment on the use of an extra word." He said in quiet disbelief.

"People like Mystique always need to hint at the obvious because they think we're too dumb to make the connection." She said simply.

The men all looked at her impressed and surprised.

Fury turned back to the crew. "Narrow the search to New York, and get us there yesterday!" he yelled out.

When Marie opened her eyes again her vision was extremely blurry.

She was uncomfortable she noted. She was lying down on some cold metal surface, her hands painfully cuffed upwards on a small metal rail that attached two machines to each other.

"I'm sorry about cuffs, but I felt them necessary considering how long you've been able to avoid us." A soft and aged voice spoke to her.

She blinked a few times before finally seeing clearly.

The man was old, wearing some kind of red uniform with a long cape flowing gently behind him.

Behind him Sabretooth grinned at her and she felt sick. A gross hunched over man stood next to him and Marie could smell his stench from the other side of the room.

The old man turned away from her. "This must be the elusive Magneto." She realized.

"Yeah, I'm sure your heart is bleeding." she sassed back at him angrily. She finally took in her surroundings,

"Where are we?" she demanded eyes narrowing at his back.

"Statue of Liberty. Magnificent, isn't she?" he said in response while smiling at her.

"I first saw her in 1949. America was going to be the land of tolerance. Peace." He reminisced.

"Are you going to kill me?" Marie asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes." He admitted.

"Why?"

His eyes hardened as he looked at her "Because there is no land of tolerance. There is no peace. Not here, or anywhere else." He walked over to her and she shrunk back not wanting to be near him.

"It's funny you know." She said as he stares at her.

"What is child?" he asked.

"You're all the first mutants I meet, and you try to kill me, not the humans. And this was before I even knew what a mutant was and that I was one too." She says angrily.

His eyes reveal nothing. "I'm sorry it had to be like this. You would have been a great homo superior. This is what's wrong with the world. They try to hide us away as if we are a dirty secret." He shook his head.

"But do not fret. Your death will be a honorable one."

He went on explaining how he would transfer his powers to her, forcing the machine into action.

It would release a pulse with a special gas, wide enough to cover the entire state of New York that would forcefully activate the x-gene in the homo sapiens.

"You're a coward." She said and Magneto fumed "No, even worse. You're a hypocritical coward. You talk so much about you cause but in the end you can't even turn martyr for your own ideologies and beliefs. All because you're scared of dying in vain and being forgotten. You're a pathetic, demented old man." She spat out and he smacked her harshly.

Sabretooth growled at her "Watch your pretty little mouth girly." he grunted out as he advanced on her. The gross guy looked on smirking evilly.

Magneto lifted his hand and Sabretooth stopped and growled angrily, before walking back to his spot next the smelly guy.

"Be that as it may. It is time." He said. Marie fought back a smirk.

If he wanted her to use her powers on him she gladly would. He clearly didn't expect her to be able to control them.

Magneto walked over to her and while Sabretooth followed his lead.

Sabretooth grabbed her wrists, careful to only grip where her sleeves covered, before forcing her hands on the metal rail that connected the machines.

Magneto slipped off his own gloves. He placed his hands on her hands waiting for the painful pull of her powers.

Nothing happened.

Or at least that was what he believed. Marie on the other hand felt his psyche entering her mind like a constant waterfall.

She struggled, ripping it apart before too much formed into a solid consciousness, like Cody's.

When he removed his hands from she breathed out a heavy breath as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.

She could feel the light humm of the metal around them as his powers, barely there, started filling her body.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Magneto exclaimed angrily. "Why isn't it working? How are you controlling it?" he demanded.

She grinned "It's normal for men your age to experience bodily problems during stressed situations. No need to be embarrassed." she openly mocked him.

A loud alarm sounding through the statue alerted them to outsiders.

Magneto nodded to Sabretooth and the smelling guy. They left immediately.

Magneto once again grabbed her face and Marie let her control of her powers go completely. This time the pain shocked and paralyzed him.

Marie waited for the man to collapse onto the floor before ripping apart his psyche. Except he didn't collapse as she expected. Marie started to panic. He was beginning to solidify in her mind. She struggled against her cuffs, but they didn't budge.

The machine started whirring. "Why isn't he collapsing?!" she thought horrified.

A great white light enveloped the two and Marie screamed. It felt like an eternity had passed inside the dome of light.

Before she could register what was going on, an arrow with a cylinder top crashed at their feet. An explosion ripped Marie and Magneto from each other, and the white dome of light disappeared.

The next thing Marie saw as she lay on her back staring up in shock, were the three worried faces of Clint, Natasha and Steve.

They were all crouching over her looking concerned.

She tried to get up but Steve pushed her back down as pain ripped through her body - she screamed.

"Marie look at me," Steve said trying put her attention on me "Don't look down. Look at me, everything's gonna be okay." He tried to reassure her, but Marie looked down and saw a great metal piece protruding from her stomach. "Ow."

She started gasping and breathing erratically panicking.

"Marie!" Steve yelled at her. He said something to Natasha she didn't hear and Natasha responded. Clint was trying to stop her from bleeding out. Natasha yelled something into her com.

"Is it Fury?" She asked weakly. They all looked at her, and Natasha nodded. "Tell him... " She choked heavily and gasped painfully "Tell him I'm asking permission." They looked at her questioningly but Natasha relayed the words.

There was moment of silence from both sides, until Natasha relayed Fury's answer. "Permission granted." The redhead said simply.

Marie starting shaking from the cold that had seeped into her bones.

She turned to Steve. "Do you trust..me.." She choked out mouth slowly filling with blood. He nodded. She placed her hand in his bare one. "Pull it out." she said looking at them.

They shook their heads "It'll kill you." Clint said.

"No it won't. Trust me…. please." She pleaded. They all shared a look before nodding. Clint was about to pull it out "Wait!" she choked and Clint stopped concerned.

She looked at Steve "I might hurt you, if it becomes too much let go of my hand." she aid seriously.

He only clenched her hand tighter.

She nodded at Clint, he pulled it out and Marie used her powers on Steve.

Steve felt extremely exhausted but they all watched in morbid curiosity as the large wound starting knitting itself together to half the size it was.

Marie ripped her hand from Steve's. "What are you doing, you're not healed!" He exclaimed angrily as the heavy feeling of exhaust disappeared.

"It's enough until I can get to the medical…. I'm not gonna hurt you any more than necessary." She said already looking healthier, though she still had a big hole in her stomach.

Steve gripped her hand angrily. "Do it." He said. "But," Marie tried to argue "That's an order!" He nearly yelled at her.

The exhausting feeling returned but Steve ignored it.

The wound grew to the size of a nickel before Steve started to feel sick. Again Marie removed her hand from his. He was about to argue with her, but she shook her head at him.

Natasha helped Steve to his feet as he felt light headed and swayed slightly. Clint had Marie lean on him. He looked back to see Magneto missing. "Hopefully dead." He thought angrily.

No one spoke the entire way back.

Marie had grabbed the first aid box from the quinjet and cleaned up her wound before bandaging it. She didn't look anyone in the eyes. Not even when Steve placed a blanket around her shoulders to warm her up. She only muttered a thanks.

He left her in the back while spoke with Clint and Natasha. "There's no way I'll get out of telling them… They're gonna know I'm a monster." She thought worried "Clint and Natasha will hate me for it… They'll hate knowing that with the touch of a finger I would know their every secret if I wanted to… And they wouldn't know if I'd done it. I don't want them to live with that uncertainty, and I don't want to live with their mistrust either..."

The quinjet landed as it was only a short trip to base. Steve smiled at her sadly and helped her walk to the medical wing with Clint and Natasha hot on their heels. "Steve…" she thought looking up at him sadly. "Sweet, kind and loving Steve... " Her heart clenched when she thought about him, what his reaction would be to the truth. "That I was a monster since childhood… He might forgive me for keeping my powers a secret, even he would understand that, but killing an innocent child... He would never forgive me for that…"

Fury and Coulson were already there waiting for them in medical.

The only thing that brought Marie any comfort in the situation were Magneto's powers. The entire helicarrier hummed around her, comforting her wherever she walked, as if it was a living being.

Steve helped her up on the bed, before Dr. Attwood started removing her bandaging, cleaning the now small wound and sewing it shut.

"So am I the only one dying to know what the hell happened up there tonight." Clint broke the silence looking at every occupant in the room.

Phil had already been briefed about the situation beforehand by Fury. He felt bad that she hadn't been able to confide in them about her situation.

And so Marie began telling her story and in one her deepest darkest secrets. She finished and a contemplative silence had taken hold of the atmosphere before Dr. Attwood had thrown them out of the medical wing, claiming they all needed to rest and could continue their talking the next day.

When Steve woke up the next morning, it had been from a fitful sleep. He got ready for the day before making his way down the medical wing.

He had a million questions that he needed answered, but when he got downstairs the bed that had been occupied just last night was empty.

Dr. Attwood saw him and explained that Marie had left to sleep in her own bed last night, seeing as her wounds were not deadly.

Steve's heart clenched and he rushed up to her room.

He opened the door not bothering to knock and saw his worst fear.

The room was laid completely bare.

There was nothing left, he checked the closet and the bathroom for any personal effect but there were none.

On her bed her S.H.I.E.L.D issued phone and laptop sat.

"Maybe she's not gone, maybe she's with Fury." He thought desperately.

He ran to Fury's office and let himself in. Clint and Natasha were already there staring down Fury.

"Please do come in." Fury deadpanned.

"As I was about to inform Barton and Romanoff here, and I know you're all here for the same reason, no I don't know about Dr. D'Ancanto's current whereabouts. Security has her leaving base at o-two-hundred."

"We have to find her." Steve said desperately.

Fury nodded "And I agree with you. However Barton is being shipped off to New Mexico with Phil, and Natasha is being assigned to babysit Stark in Malibu. You're on your own with this one." Fury said as he handed them each a file.

Natasha and Clint left to prepare for their missions, knowing they had no choice in the matter and that any protest would be ignored.

Steve looked at the manilla folder that said classified.

The first piece of paper said Operation Rogue with bold letters.

"Let me know if you need anything." Fury offered him and Steve started reading through the file. "In the mean time," Fury said and Steve looked up at him "bring me back the Rogue."

The end

:-D