psinex@yahoo.com Age of Phoenix: Ecliptic by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: They're all Marvel's. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. NOTE: This is a story that's been quite a while in coming - how Charles Lehnsherr could possibly fit into a retconned timeline :/ WARNING: Language, mature themes, etc., etc. ... ------------------------------------------------------- 5/4/85: ------------------------------------------------------- He was tending to his burns when the knock came at the front door. #Who could possibly know where I am ? It's not exactly as if there's a sign on the door saying 'Mutant Hideout,'# Magneto thought, grumbling while he finished bandaging his hands and chest. "I'M COMING !" he yelled, tromping across the metallic floor to open the door. He barely stepped back in time to keep from being knocked over by a young woman. "Please !" she sobbed, her brown and white hair mussed by the weather. "Ah need yoah help !" "Miss, I -" Magnus began, taking in her appearance. Besides her tear-stained face, watery green eyes and the unique hair, she was clad in a skintight green bodysuit from neck to toe. "You are a mutant ?" Magnus asked, helping the woman - #girl, perhaps,# he pondered - to a couch. "How did you find me ?" "Ah used a machine mah Mama owns," the woman said, sitting down and accepting a hankerchief from the magnakinetic. "She's a mutant ... terrorist, ah guess ya'd call her." #Not Mystique,# Magnus thought, groaning inwardly. #Darkholme, you have got to stop playing with people ...# His thoughts flashed back a quarter-century, and he bit the inside of his cheek before muttering, "Is she known as Mystique ?" "Y-yes," the woman said, accepting another tissue. She blew her nose with a loud HONK and threw the tissue in a nearby wastebasket before mumbling, "She wants me t'be like her - a terrorist. But mah power's too dangerous !" "What is your ability ?" Magnus asked, his peripheral vision darting to a nearby scanner array. #The field dampers are working perfectly,# he thought, nodding inwardly. #She is mutant, but her ability is damped ...# "Ah can absorb people's minds an' powers," the woman said, starting to look forlorn again. "Mama saved me, but ... ah cain't do what she wants ..." "I understand. We must all find our paths," Magnus said, nodding. "What is your name ?" The woman looked at him, dumbfounded for a moment, then said, "Rogue." "Your parents had interesting taste in names," Magnus deadpanned. "Would ya trust me t'tell me your true name ?" Rogue replied, watching Magnus throw a robe on over his bare chest and his costume pants. "Not at first," Magnus admitted. "But then, you would not have gotten as far into my sanctum as you have had I not taken steps to neutralize your threat potential. I haven't lived as long as I have by being an idiot." Rogue nodded, standing, and said, "So ah should go." "To Mystique ? Darkholme is not known for being forgiving," Magneto said, smiling coldly. "No ... I think perhaps we can help each other." Rogue looked at him with obvious doubt, listening as Magnus continued. "You need help controlling your power - I can infer that from the whole-body costume you arew wearing," he said. "I ... I need a project, if nothing else, to occupy my time as I heal from my confrontation with Phoenix." "A mythical bird hurt ya ?" Rogue asked, smirking. "Ah, educated as well as desperate," Magnus retorted, smiling. "No ... my principal hindrances, the X-Men, left me ... injured during our last confrontation. I cannot advance my plans in my current state, so I intend to rest. And perhaps, assisting you to control your power may help me do so." Rogue accepted Magnus' outstretched hand and said, "So when do we begin ?" ------------------------------------------------------- 11/4/85: ------------------------------------------------------- "... that's it, Marie ..." Her brow was creased in visible exertion, the room filled with blue light and a barely-levitating one-ton weight as Magnus watched his protege at work. "When - GRMMPH - ah duplicated y'r - RMMPH - powers, ah nevah imagined how difficult this'd be," Rogue muttered, scowling. "Ah've traded in mah - RRGH - absorption talent f'r this !?" She shouted as the weight floated upwards, crashing after 30 seconds. "For triumph," Magnus said, handing her a towel. "Besides, you need not fear absorbing others' psyches and abilities any longer." "Granted. Ah've got t'admit, that was a nice discovery. Ya're quite the geneticist," Rogue said, smiling while she wiped the sweat from her face. "An' ..." They looked into each other's eyes, and Rogue laughed nervously. "This is wrong," Magnus breathed, blinking. "You are far, far younger than I ..." "Can ya deny it, though ?" Rogue breathed back. "Ah'm not a child, Magnus, agewise or mentally. Mystique's trainin' left mah adolesence a joke, an' ya've shown me we can't afford t'piddle around with games. Ya're so alone, too ..." Their lips brushed, and the towel went flying. ------------------------------------------------------- Afterwards, he awoke to find her cuddling against him. #Strange. Magda never cuddled,# Magnus realized, sighing. #What have I done ? I opened my home to this woman ... woman ... took her in as a student ...# #Whom has used who ?# "Ya're thinkin' too much. Y'r glow gets this dull blue whenever ya do that," Rogue purred. She ran a finger down Magnus' chest and chuckled, adding, "Ah thought we'd talk some more." "As you wish," Magnus whispered. "I do not want you to leave, Rogue. I want this to ... to be something. To mean something." She turned his head with one gentle hand and replied, "Hasn't it meant anything to you yet ? How much ah need you ? Ah owe ya my life, Magnus. Ya took this swamp rat an' gave her a cure, trainin' - a place t'belong. An' ya've asked nothin' of me except mah trust. Ah think that's a fair trade." Rogue felt a strong arm slip around her, and a mumbled set of words which made her heartbeat flicker. #Ah feel the same way,# she thought, dozing off. ------------------------------------------------------- 5/5/86: ------------------------------------------------------- "... perhaps Madame would prefer this dress ?" "The robe, first, Pierre," Marie Lavonne laughed, holding the garment against her swollen frame. A kick from within her made the young woman laugh, softer, as she looked in the mirror. #Silly little man,# Rogue thought to the child within her. #Let Mama have her shopping trip, first - ya're still a month away from comin' out. An' when ya do, there'll be such love waitin' ...# "A real family," Rogue breathed, smiling wistfully as she sorted through the maternity clothes. Her eyes narrowed when she felt a flicker in the magnetic field behind her, and she concentrated. "Foolish, ma'am - comin' up behind me with an iron weapon," Rogue snorted, turning around th crush the maglevved stiletto with a motion of her right hand. She arched an eyebrow at the sales clerk and asked, "Who sent ya ? An' why're ya tryin' ta kill me ?" Her heart stopped for a second when the clerk's features flickered, magenta and blue and cold yellow eyes. "Kill, no. Bring to your senses, definitely," Raven Darkholme whispered, leaning close to her foster daughter. "Are you INSANE, Rogue ? You're in love with the world's most wanted mutant. I sent you to Magnus to absorb him, not become Mrs. Erik Magnus Lehnsherr. And you've grown weak - you're carrying a CHILD, no less !" She failed to stop the slap before it half-spun her around. "You. DARE," Rogue hissed. "You USED me - a mind here, a mind there, ta steal secrets or thieve data. Ah trusted ya, an' ya treated me like a slave. Ah refuse ta' be guilted by the likes o' ya, Mystique - ah refuse ta be used by anyone anymore." Mystique recovered easily, resuming her clerk guise, and growled, "Hasn't Magnus used you ? Do you really think he can love you ? The man never trusts anyone, Rogue. He had his trust burned out of him in Auschwitz - I know, I had access to the records during my time in post-war Germany - and he's using you to breed a superweapon. Why do you think he reconfigured your genome into that of a magnakinetic - out of some altruistic delusion of a happy family ?" Rogue staggered. "He - he wouldn't do that," she whispered, regaining her balance. "Keep telling yourself that. Don't want to upset the pregnant woman," Mystique snapped. "Damnit, girl, come HOME. Irene's practically -" "LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS !" Rogue raged, glaring at the customers who were looking at her with fear. Her gaze shot back to Mystique, and Rogue hissed, "Home ? Home was C-4 and blasting caps and stolen faces, Mystique. Home was stolen documents and blackmail and plots. Magnus has been honest with me - or at least more honest than ya ever were. And don't dare try to use Destiny to make me feel guilty - she's complicit in y'r little schemes." She handed the clerk her credit card and said, calmly, "Ah'll take the whole pile, please. Just put it in a bag an' ah'll carry it." "Very good, Madame," the head clerk said, staring daggers at Mystique. "Who are you, young woman, and why are you harassing a paying customer ?" Mystique told him what he could with his inquiry and stormed out, glaring over her shoulder at Rogue. "Go ahead ! Let him lie to you !" she shouted over her shoulder. "See if you get far !" Rogue finished her purchase, then left, leaning against the outside wall of the building with a pounding heartbeat. #Ah did it,# she thought, elation filling her while tiny feet kicked against her uterine wall. #Ah told Mystique to step off ... even if ...# She shivered. #Magnus wouldn't treat me like some mare,# Rogue thought. #That's not like him.# #But he nevah told me his real name, either ...# Hot salt trickled down her face, and she hailed a taxi. ------------------------------------------------------- 6/5/88: ------------------------------------------------------- "... based upon the evidence presented, this jury has no recourse but to return a verdict of not guilty." Gasps of shock and at least one cry of joy shook the courtroom as the judge pounded her gavel. "Order !" she shouted, her French accent peppering her words. "M'sieu Lehnsherr, you are free to go." "Thank you, your Honor," Magnus said, allowing one of the gendarmes to remove his handcuffs. #Better not to be overly free with my powers,# he reasoned, rubbing his wrists. #It was bad enough dealing with those Fenris brats -# He felt ice in his stomach when he turned around. "Rogue," Magnus breathed, his blue eyes meeting her green ones. She was a little older; still dressed in green, but with a terrible maturity in her face which belied her otherwise youthful appearance. The small brown-haired boy in her arms blinked at Magnus and asked, "Daddy ?" "Hello, Erik," Rogue breathed, walking with her son and her lover out of the courtroom. Magnus had the presence of mind to bend the lightwaves around them slightly, allowing them to circumvent the crowds of protestors and media on the front steps before they reached a nearby bistro. "So," Magnus began, taking the child in hs arms. The boy cuddled close to him, as Rogue started to speak. "His name is Charles Xavier Lehnsherr," she began, shaking. "Ah'm sorry - ah -" "I know what happened," Magnus said, taking her hand with his free hand. "Valerie Cooper told me about what took place. I understand, Rogue. But I swear, I never intended to -" They laughed nervously when Charles levitated a spoon, giggling. "Well," Rogue said, wiping her eyes. "Where to from here ?" "Together, I hope," Magnus offered. "I am free at last, and ... you have been with the X-Men ?" "The Professor was mighty generous," Rogue replied. "Ah ... ah want Charlie t'know his pa. Ah ... ah won't blame ya if ya don't want us t' -" "Rogue. This is not the first time a woman I love left me out of fear," Magnus said softly. "But you came back. You attempted to trust me again. I will not let that trust be unfounded." She bit back a sob, and returned his squeeze of her hand. ------------------------------------------------------- 6/17/92: ------------------------------------------------------- "Rogue - Marie -!" "Ah've made up mah mind, Jean," Marie said, kindly but firmly, as she packed. "It's been two years, for God's sake - not knowin', not darin' t'hope, that he might be alive." Jean Summers watched her former student and continuing friend zip up her suitcase, and swallowed hard. "Marie ... I just don't want you to go after Magnus and be hurt," she said, walking with the younger woman. "Mommy, I'm ready," Charles called, lugging his suitcase behind him. He met the women at the top of the stairs, pulling his suitcase down behind him while Marie let Phoenix descend carefully. "So'm ah, darlin'," Rogue said, smiling at Charles. They reached the bottom step, and Marie carefully hugged the very pregnant Jean before whispering, "Ah have t'know, Jean. If it was you, would you wait t'see if Scott was alive or dead ?" Jean nodded, smiling sadly, as Marie hugged Alison and Ororo and Betsy and Lorna, then looked at the gathered X-Men and the children present with a warm expression. "Thank ya. For ev'rything - for a home, for a family," Marie began. "Ah ... we'll be back." "We know, Marie. May the Bright Lady go with you and Charles," Ororo said, watching mother and son head for the taxi. "Mommy ? Will Daddy 'member me ?" Charles asked, letting Marie take his suitcase while he clambered into the taxi. "No one c'n forget ya, sweetie," Marie laughed, getting in beside her son. "'Specially not your pa." ------------------------------------------------------- 3/15/93: ------------------------------------------------------- "... can't believe you brought him here ..." "Well, what was ah s'posed t'do ? Leave him with the X-Men an' keep him from ya !?" Rogue half-snapped, half-laughed as she watched Magnus kneel over the cot where Charles was sleeping. "Ah swore ah'd nevah do that." "And I swore I would never leave you," Magnus sighed, removing his helmet to kiss Charles' brow before standing and caressing Rogue's cheek. "Genosha is not a safe place, Marie. That is a definite understatement." "Erik, mah powers are easily above yours right now," Marie replied evenly. She pulled him into a hug, whispering, "Leave here. Let the U.N. deal with this. PLEASE ..." "I've committed myself to this," Magnus said, looking into his lover's eyes. "I can no more go back on my word than I could betray you or Charles. I cannot trust this Cortez - he is a power manipulator, both of words and biogenetic energy. He would lead the mutates into certain death, and reap the benefits for himself. Genosha has a chance to become an example of what mutants can do if given a chance at peace - and it is an example of what humans can do if allowed to run amok. I must make a stand here ..." Rogue looked at him for a long moment. Finally, she hung her head and whispered, "Ah know. But shuntin' the force o' the explosion o' Apocalypse's ship almost killed ya last year. Ya're in no shape t'lead a revolution." His gentle chuckle made her look at him. "Rogue," Magnus said, smiling for the first time since she'd arrived with Charles, "I survived Hell incarnate. Genosha is nothing. Apocalypse was nothing. Besides, I have two important people to come back to." She hugged him and breathed, "Ya'd better remember that. Or ah'll drag y'r sorry butt outta the grave an' kick ya back in if ya break Charlie's heart." ======================================================= "So that was why she let you stay here." Magnus turned to look at his youngest child - #almost grown, where does the time go ?# he pondered - as Charles brushed brown curls out of his blue eyes and looked across the futuristic skyline of the rebuilt Hammer Bay. "Your mother can be forceful," Magnus admitted, chuckling faintly. Chuck grinned at him, and the two laughed together for a moment. "I've learned so much from you both," Chuck said, his face growing serious. "Do I have to go to Xavier's ?" "I want you to learn of your powers and the world beyond Genosha, son," Magnus said gently. "Your namesake is not wrong, merely quieter than I in his proclamations." "The Professor's path is valid," Chuck admitted. "I ... guess I just wish you and Mom would ..." He hung his head, listening as Magnus replied, "I cannot force your mother's heart. All I can ask is that you let her find her own path." "I won't hurt her," Chuck promised, looking up tearfully. "But ... LeBeau ... of all people ..." "I know," Magnus said, distaste evident in his tone. He looked at Chuck and said, "Protect her. Do not spy upon her - but watch over her. She has the right to her own destiny, Charles ..." Chuck turned to go, but gasped. "Last transport t' America leaves in an hour, sugah," Rogue said, smiling as her 14-year-old son hugged her quickly. "Have fun with the others." "But - you're - ?" Chuck asked, starting to grin. "Don't look so darn happy," Rogue teased. "Now get." She watched him run for the elevator, then turned to meet Magnus halfway across the room. "You are here," he observed, unable to keep surprise out of his voice. "Ya let me fly. Ah came back," Rogue said, almost matter-of-factly. "We argued. Ah decided t'give it another try." "And LeBeau ?" Magnus asked, hugging her. "Remy is Remy. He's not the man ah gave mah heart to, Erik - he was a ... different path," Marie whispered, snuggling into his shoulder. "A mistake, on mah part." "You were hardly making a mistake," Magnus said, releasing her and taking her hand as they watched Chuck's transport come in for refueling. "I should have allowed you to stay here, even in the midst of the rebuilding -" They kissed, and she led him towards the bedroom. "Enough," Rogue breathed. "Enough of Cajuns and blame and history, Erik. Ah want this t'be a fresh start for us. You have y'r homeland for our people, an' ah have mah family. Here, an' at Salem Center." "Ah want some time f'r us." He smiled, following her inside. ------------------------------------------------------- finis ;) ------------------------------------------------------- __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics