A/N: Sorry for taking so long, guys. My life got in the way. But here it is, the third chapter. As always, read, enjoy, review. I hope you like the characters, since these are just about the only other characters that will be introduced, save for a cameo here and there.

The fall was hard, though nothing like a fall in the Danger Room if you weren't paying attention. Rogue hit the ground, landing on her stomach. It hurt, but she was just happy to be out of that house. Granted, she had no idea where she was at, and they must have taken her cell phone, but she was an Xman, and Xmen don't give up. She would find her way home.

She got up and dusted herself off. Had she been able to cling to the window sills a little longer, she wouldn't be so bruised in the morning, but sometimes, you just have to take life as it hits you. Or as you hit it, so to speak.

She looked up quickly, making sure no one had seen or heard her, and then she was off. The house was positioned in the woods, making it more difficult for her to tell where she was. So instead she ran blindly. She ran past trees, and bushes, the sunlight casting glances of shine through her hair as she went. Eventually, the adrenaline snuffing out, she slowed.

She didn't realize how tired she was until she actually stopped. She leaned against a tree, breathing hard. She would make it out of this. This was nothing. They wouldn't even know she was missing. At least, not yet she hoped. Then she heard it. It was just a slight whistle at first. Then it grew to a noise she recognized from two years ago: the sound of a missile. She turned, looking toward the sound. It certainly looked like a missile, actually. She couldn't see the details from this far away, and when it got close, even when it flew over her head, it was hidden by the sun.

When she saw it fall into the trees, she turned to run the other direction. She didn't get very far, however, before when a large hand fell over her mouth. She tried to scream, but it held her tight. She jabbed her elbow back, but she only hit air. The body holding her was hot, almost too hot to stand, but before she could see who it was, they made themselves known.

"Rogue, shh, shh, it's just me!"

The hand went away and the grip relaxed. "Sam!" She gasped, whirling on him. She prepared to kick him, but he held out his hands in surrender.

"Whoa, listen. Ah'm not gonna hurt ya." He said.

"Then what are you gonna do? Take me back to that house? Ah don't think so." She said.

"Rogue…Listen. We may seem like some bad guys, but we really ain't. Ah mean, it's not like you're gonna get hurt. Our employer jus' wants ta' use ya'. After that, Ah'm sure she'll let ya' go." He gave her a cute, lopsided smile.

She searched his face for a falter, any sign of a lie, but she couldn't find one.

"Now if ya' don't come back with me now, Gambit's gonna come after ya'. He only let me go get ya' 'cause Ah'd get to ya' first." He smiled again.

"Gambit?" She asked, taking a step toward Sam.

Sam nodded. "The womanizin' Cajun."

Rogue couldn't help but giggle. Sam was just so likeable. She wanted to hate him, but she just couldn't. Even as she studied him, she couldn't find much of a fault.

Then she noticed something curious. "You're not a natural redhead." She said, reaching up and tugging gently on a stray blonde lock in the midst of all the red that stuck up around a pair of goggles.

"You're right, Ah ain't." He said, with a little forced laugh.

"Why did you dye it? You just like the color?" Rogue asked.

He smirked. "Oh yeah, Ah love it. Nah, Ah dyed it 'cause of the reason Ah'm here." He looked slightly uncomfortable. "See, Ah accidentally got inta' some trouble with the law 'cause of mah powers, and when mah employer found me, she helped me get outta that mess. Then she recommended Ah change mah appearance somewhat so Ah wouldn't get caught. That's why Ah have to get you back. 'Cause Ah owe her. She took me in when no one else would." He explained.

"The Xmen would've." Rogue replied.

He didn't answer at first, and he looked up at the sky. Then he turned to face her. "Let's get back, huh?"

"So you got her back in one piece, henh?" Remy was leaning against the railing of the porch when Rogue and Sam returned.

"It was no problem." Sam said, and Rogue scowled at him. He may be the kindest guy here, but he was still a guy. They must all have a built in ego regulator that's constantly on the fritz.

"There she is!" Dominic burst from the door and was headed down the steps toward her.

"We got her back, there's no reason ta' worry." Sam said as the ground suddenly started shaking. Rogue looked down, but they only explanation for the sudden earthquake was the angry teen stalking toward her. Before he could reach her, however, Remy had stepped in front of her and was facing Dominic.

Dominic paid him no mind until Remy's hand found its way to his chest and stopped him in his tracks. "Listen, homme, you need to learn to control yo'self." He said, and Rogue had never actually heard Remy sound dangerous.

"Remy?" Rogue said uncertainly, finding it difficult to stand on the ground as the shaking grew more and more violent.

"And yo' powers." Remy added. "Rogue, go upstairs ta' my room. I t'ink me an' Sam need ta' have a chat wit' Dom here. And chere?" He gave her a look. "Don' give me a reason not ta' trust you."

Rogue didn't give the three a backwards glance as she bolted into the house. She didn't care that they were the 'bad guys', because right now, they were between her and Dominic. As far as she was concerned, Sam and Remy were the 'good' bad guys.

When the ground stopped shaking she climbed the stairs, trying to remember where Remy's room was. She headed toward what she thought was the right door, and opened it. It turned out it was the wrong door.

What she found was a mess. The room's walls were ripped and scratched, clothes strewn about and pieces of furniture littered the floor. It looked…well, frankly it looked like what Logan's room did after a particularly bad nightmare. She was just turning to leave when she came face to face with a girl.

The girl was a little younger than her, perhaps sixteen, with long black hair and full lips. Her eyes were brown and when they saw her, they narrowed.

"Is this your room? Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't know. Ah was lookin' for Remy's…" Rogue trailed off as she noticed the girl wasn't responding, just glaring. She walked into her room as Rogue walked out, watching her. "Ah'm sorry…" Rogue started to say again, when the girl's lip curled, and a low growl escaped her before she slammed the door in Rogue's face. For a moment Rogue just stood there blinking, torn between running for her life away from this door or making the girl inside come out and apologize.

She ran for her life.

When she finally did reach Remy's room she slammed the door and locked it, turning and leaning against it for support. So she was back at square one, she thought, looking around the room. What was she going to do? She had tried to escape, and where had that gotten her? Nowhere.

Her sigh turned into a choked sob as she slid to the floor, burying her face in her hands. At least no one could hear her crying.

"Storm! Storm, we got a picture!" Jubilee greeted her headmistress excitedly, holding up Piotr's sketchbook. Piotr stood warily behind her, trying to stifle a yawn. Jubilee's eyes were bloodshot and she had circles under her eyes, but her temporary excitement at Storm's return seemed to have made her forget her weariness.

Storm was just glad to be back at this point. They had been out until dawn. When Logan had found the pipe with Rogue's blood on it, he had gone ballistic, forcing Kitty and herself to stay out with him until he had to admit defeat. Admitting defeat for Logan was not an easy thing, and perhaps the only thing keeping Kitty from freaking out was the fact that Storm was there. It was only an hour later that Kitty had fallen asleep. Logan was carrying her to the girl's dorm as Jubilee spoke.

"It took us a few tries, because I don't think Piotr was understanding my descriptions," Jubilee said, and Piotr snorted behind her. She glared at him, but continued. "Here, take a look at this." She presented the sketchbook to Storm.

Storm took it and looked at the picture. A handsome, smirking face looked back at her, his eyes hidden by sunglasses. "He looks familiar…" She trailed off, her eyes distant. She focused back on Jubilee. "Did you see his eyes?" She asked.

Jubilee shook her head. "He kept his sunglasses on tight, like he had something to hide." She replied.

Storm looked back at the picture. "Something to hide…" She murmured.

"Storm?"

She looked up and saw Kurt coming down the stairs toward her. He stopped before he reached the bottom. "May I speak to you for a moment?" He asked.

Storm looked back at Jubilee and Piotr, scanned the picture a moment, then she handed the sketchbook back to Piotr. "I think I've seen this man before, but I don't remember exactly when and where. Thank you two for working so hard and long. I'll try to remember. Now you two need to get some sleep. I'll make the announcements later, I'm going to cancel classes until we find Rogue."

When she dismissed them, she followed Kurt up the stairs to her study, where she took a seat in the nearest chair. "Yes, Kurt?"

Kurt sat in the chair across from her. "Dr. McCoy vanted me to tell you he was summoned to the White House. He left an hour ago."

Storm looked up. "Why?"

"It seem that the President vants to speak to him about Rogue's case. Dr. McCoy wasn't sure if they vould let the message go public yet, but at least them speaking to him is a step in the right direction." Kurt said.

Storm's head fell into her hands, despite the potentially good news this could be. But what were they going to do about Rogue?

"Does this information not make you happy?" She heard his concerned voice close to her.

"No, it does, it's just that…we still need to find Rogue, and we have no leads whatsoever. I just…I don't know what to do. If only the professor were here…" She heaved a great sigh, and looked up quickly when she felt two fuzzy fingers on her cheek. Kurt's face was close to hers, and he had one hand on her hand, the other brushed a hair out of her face.

"You know that no matter vhat decisions you make, ve'll be here. Ve'll find her, and when we do, hopefully Dr. McCoy vill haf this whole thing vith the government vorked out. Everything vill be alright." He soothed, and she let him soothe her. She needed it.

Suddenly the door to the study flew open, and Kurt leaped back as Logan entered the room, casting a glare in his direction. Storm cleared her throat and looked up. "Logan?"

"I'm going after her." He said in a voice that sounded more like a growl.

"What?" Storm's voice had been shriller than she meant it to be. "Kurt, can you excuse us for a moment?"

Kurt nodded, and in a poof of black smoke, he was gone.

"Logan, you can't be serious. We looked for hours, and you couldn't find any trace of her." Storm said, placing a hand on his arm.

"Ororo, I…I can't let her just stay out there with whoever's got her. What if its one of Magneto's guys? I got a whiff of whoever hit her, and they don't smell normal. She was definitely picked up by mutants." He said.

"Then she may be safe, at least for the time being, right? If they abducted her, then they must have a reason." Storm replied.

"Is that supposed to be a comfort?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm going looking for her, and when I find her, I'll come back."

"So you won't be here until you find her? Logan, we need you. I need you. I can't handle all of this with just me and Kurt. Now Hank is gone, and you're leaving…" The frustration at everything was getting to be too much, and she felt her voice crack. She was barely able to hold back frustrated tears.

Logan watched her, and he raised a hand, then dropped it, not knowing exactly what to do. In the end he settled with wrapping his arms around her, letting her compose herself. When she had, she gently pulled away and straightened her clothing.

"I'm going to look for her, but I'll come back. I'll call you if I get a lead." He said.

She smiled at him, and he left the room. He was gone the whole day.

The knock was low and quiet. Rogue didn't hear it at first. She had fallen asleep, for how long she didn't know, but when she eventually looked up from her fetal position on the floor in front of the door, the knocking had increased.

The door burst open, hitting her in the head and launching her forward. She let out a shriek and covered her throbbing head.

"Chere?! Oh, I'm sorry!" She heard the slight laugh in the voice as Remy's face swam into view, looking down at her. "I didn' mean to hit you. I thought you might have run away again." She felt his gentle hands on the back of her head before she batted them away.

"Keep your hands to yourself, Cajun!" She growled.

"Rogue, at least let Remy look at yo' stitches." He said, reaching out to touch her.

"Don't touch me!" She shouted.

He froze and cocked his head at her, frowning.

"Its not like that. Ah mean, Ah don't want you touchin' me anyway, but…mah mutation hurts people. It…"

"It sucks the life force outta the people who get too close, yeah, Remy knows." Remy finished for her.

"How do you…?" Rogue asked, and Remy gave her a sneaky smile.

"Remy always does research on his target before he goes after it." Rogue was shocked. All this time he had known her secret, and still he had flirted with her and tried to touch her. She had never encountered someone so unafraid of her powers.

"Then why do you still insist on touchin' me?" She pressed. "Ah could kill you."

"Remy always been taught to play the hand he's dealt, and recently he happened to be dealt a belle chere."He winked at her, and she felt the blush creeping into her face despite how much she wanted to be repelled by him. She had to admit, as she looked at him, he really was quite the guy. She'd noticed he was handsome from the start, sure, but now that she sort of knew him…

"Can I help you?" He asked. She suddenly realized that she had been staring at him as she was thinking, and snapped back. If she had been blushing before, it was nothing compared to what she was doing now. He must have noticed because he started laughing. She punched him in the arm but couldn't help cracking a smile too.

Suddenly they heard a door slam, and footsteps. Remy stood up straight and looked at his closed bedroom door. There was a knock. "Come in." Remy called, stepping in front of Rogue.

Sam opened the door and poked his head inside. "Uh…Yo' prolly not gonna believe this but…She's here."

Rogue looked from Sam to Remy. Remy's eyes gave a slight twitch before his cocky smile was back in place. However, she had been around tense people before, and she noticed the way Sam and Remy now carried themselves as they walked towards the door.

At the door, Remy looked back at her. "You comin'?" Rogue hesitated. "Or you can stay here and wait…"

Rogue quickly got up and ran to his side. If she wasn't able to get out of here, she was going to take every opportunity to get answers.

She followed them down the hall and down the stairs. When they got there, the door was open. In walked Dom, holding what looked like a body wrapped in a sheet. Rogue could barely see a few locks of blonde hair poking out of the bottom of it. He walked past her, and she reflexively flinched. He didn't even look at her, and when she looked up at Remy, he was looking at Dom with his jaw set.

When Rogue looked back at the door, another man was walking through it, but she couldn't see his face through the red and black mask he was wearing. He was tall and muscular, made obvious by the matching red and black leather suit he was wearing. He looked back out the door and she noticed he was wearing two katanas slung on his back in addition to the guns on his belt. She felt a little dizzy.

He stretched in the doorway, and she heard his back crack. "Ooh, that was a good one. My ass is so numb. Do you have any idea how much it sucks to sit in a car for hours on end? Godammit…"

Rogue heard Remy chuckle. "As a matter of fact, I do, homme. Not on my list o' favorite t'ings to do."

There was a slight breeze, and Rogue jumped as she heard another man's voice at her right. She hadn't even seen this one come in. He was a little older looking than Remy, and he had short white hair. He tucked his hands into his pockets and snorted. "Quit your bitchin', you didn't actually have to drive. At least I drive fast."

The man in the red and black looked over at him. "Oh, sorry sir to demean your efforts to the cause. Next time I'm gutting someone in our way I'll stop and tell them what a superb automobile driver you are. We all know how hard it is to put a foot on a pedal."

Despite the situation, Rogue wanted to giggle as Remy and Sam laughed. The white haired man growled and looked like he was about to retort when a woman stepped into the house. The man in red and black moved aside for her. She had a sensual way about her with short black hair and she was wearing a black dress suit.

"Boys, play nice. We all hated traveling. But we got what we came for, so relax and take some time to yourselves." She said.

"Yes! Chuck-e-cheese, here we come. Do you have any tokens for our hard work? One per body?" The man in red and black asked. She turned to him. "Everybody but you. You stay by me. You're my bodyguard, they're my soldiers."

"Aw crap…" He muttered, putting his hands on his hips and looking down.

The woman looked away from him and her eyes landed on Rogue. She smirked and sauntered over to her. Rogue felt Remy's slight tensing.

"Its been a while since we've met, little girl. Two years? Oh, you don't recognize me, do you?" She bent down, looking Rogue straight in the eyes. As Rogue watched, the pale skin darkened and she gasped. The woman, who's skin had turned to a deep blue and hair a furious red, was smiling wider now. Oh, Rogue recognized her.

"Welcome to my team." Mystique purred.