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To The Victor...	By : Nathalia Category: X-Men - Animated Series (all) > General Views: 13453 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Summary: See previous
chapters.
AUTHOR�S NOTE. PLEASE
READ!: For anyone who starts whining about how Rogue is out of character, please
remember that this is AU, and I always thought that Rogue had a stronger
personality while she was with the Brotherhood, but while she was with the
X-Men she always seemed to take a back-seat to Jean and Scott and the others. I
was watching season three earlier and noticed that Rahne was removed from the
Institute. Since that threw things off, just pretend that Jaime left instead of
Rahne.
I know that there is
nothing in X-Men: Evolution to suggest that anything happened between Sam and
Rogue, but neither is there anything against it, and I just can�t write
Rogue/Scott. I got the idea of Sam�s crush on Rogue while watching X-Men: TAS,
the fact that Kurt asked Sam about Rogue first in Cajun Spice, and the look
that Sam gives Rogue at the end of Ascension pt. 2.

�
To The Victor�
Chapter Four

Jean, Rahne and Amara were awoken the next morning by loud
voices coming toward their room.
Amara and Jean flinched, anticipating one of the boys, but it
turned out to be Wanda, carrying a covered tray, who favoured them with a
scornful look. �Pathetic. Red-with-the-pigtails, Rogue wants a word with you.
Fix yourself up, help your friends and come into the house.�
Wanda put down the tray, which turned out to be a bowl of
oats and two spoons, glared at them, and left.
Rahne blinked in surprise. Rogue wanted to speak with her?
Sure, there were plenty of reasons why Jean or Amara would not be ideal
choices, but both of them were older and had more experience. This was her
chance to prove that she was not the weak little girl that everyone always
treated her as! Mindful of Amara�s injuries, Rahne helped the other girl to her
feet. �Come on, let�s eat. We can�t do anything if we�re about to pass out from
hunger.�
Outside the door, Wanda raised a speculative eyebrow. It
seemed that Rogue had been right; the younger red-head did have potential, and
was eager to prove herself. Given a few nudges in the right direction, she
might shape up into a good prot�g�, after all.
*�� *�� *�� *�� *�� *
Hurrying into the Brotherhood Kitchen, Rahne entered a scene
that was really not so different from breakfast at the Institute.
Much to their surprise, Kurt was there, along with a
dark-skinned girl, fighting with Blob for the cereal box. Wanda was spreading
jam on her toast and pointedly ignoring Toad. Rogue and Mystique were sharing
the paper and talking quietly. Lance had a possessive arm around a nervous
Kitty as they ate, glaring at Pietro about who knew what.
Rogue barely looked up as she entered. �Plates and bowls are
in the cupboard immediate left of your head. Silverware is on the bench next to
the toaster. Serve yourself.�
Mystique pointed out something, and Rogue turned back to the
paper as Wanda nudged Kurt over, forcing Kitty to sit on Lance�s lap, clearing
a space. Loading her plate with toast and scrambled eggs, Rahne slid in between
Wanda and Rogue.
*�� *�� *�� *�� *�� *
Breakfast went by with a minimum of chaos and Rahne was just
finishing when Rogue stood up. Rahne was surprised at how quickly the table
went quiet, the Brotherhood actually listening. At the Institute, it always
took at least two tries to get everyone�s attention.
Looking around the table, Rogue spoke. �Todd, you and Pietro
keep an ear on the line for what�s happening in town and don�t wander off.� The
last three words were loaded with deadly emphasis. �Little Red, Ah want a word
with you, now. Lance, you and the cat have dishes.�
She turned and followed Mystique out of the room, both as
regal as a queen. Rahne quickly went after them.
In the hallway, Rahne tried not to feel too pleased as Wanda
hexed Toad for calling her �sweetums� and Pietro ducked a second flash of blue
from his sister.
Rogue only shook her head, glancing at Rahne. �Lesson One.
If you give orders, be prepared, able and willing to back them up.�
Mystique led them to a room upstairs, apparently an
unoccupied bedroom.
Sitting on the bed next to Mystique, Rogue got straight to
the point. �We need your advice on how the X-Men will react if we show up to
rescue them.�
Rahne�s protests were stilled by Rogue�s calmly raised hand.
�Ah�m not asking you to spill all your secrets and fighting tactics. Ah just
need to know their probable reactions so that we can pull a rescue off without
drawing too much attention. Or if it�s even worth the risk.�
That made sense. Rahne nodded. �I cannae tell for sure, but
I�ll do me best.�
Inclining her head, Mystique opened a note book. �If whoever
has Xavier and his puppets are smart, they will keep them heavily sedated or
have them fitted with suppression collars. It will be easier if they are
unconscious, because then we can carry them out. If they are merely wearing
suppression collars, their arguments could take up precious time that we may
not have to spare.�
Rahne nodded again. With Blob�s strength and size,
Mystique�s morphing powers and Rogue�s ability to absorb and copy other
people�s gifts; it would be easy to carry out the unconscious X-Men. Awake and
protesting, however, would be an entirely different story.
�Wolverine and Scott are likely to shoot first and ask
questions later. Bobby and Ray I am not sure, it shouldn�t be a problem but Ray
is a scrapper, so that makes him unpredictable. Storm, Beast and the Professor
I also don�t know, but whoever has them is probably keeping them unconscious,
just in case. Roberto will probably go along with it if I ask him, and if you
hint that it will annoy Pietro, Evan will probably jump at the idea, the
rivalry between those two is just ridiculous. Sam still has his southern
mentality about respecting and not hurting girls, but I doubt that he�ll
hesitate to punch one of the Brotherhood boys, so it depends on who gets him.�
Rahne paused for a moment. �Plus I think he has a crush on Rogue.�
Rogue blinked in surprise at the revelation about
Cannonball. Rahne apparently noticed a lot more than people gave her credit
for. She really would make a good addition. Always
the quiet ones�
Mystique nodded to herself. �Good. We�ll see what we can do
with this information.�
The shape shifter placed a gentle hand on Rogue�s gloved
wrist for a moment, then stood and left the room.
Rahne was slightly shocked at the gesture. It was one thing
to hear that Mystique was Rogue�s mother, but quite another to witness the
affection between them in person. Her face must have made this obvious, because
Rogue looked almost amused. �Mystique may be an assassin, but she is still mah
Mama. She ain�t always the best at showing it, but she does love Kurt and me,
and cares for the others. For most of us, Mystique is the only parent we really
have, even if she can be scary at times.�
Rahne could accept that. It fit with what she had observed
of the Brotherhood�s behaviour with each other. She finally asked the question
that had been nagging her for a while. �Um, Rogue? Why me? I mean, you don�t
even know me, but you defended me and made sure that we were all mostly
comfortable and now you�re putting me in charge of things and asking for my
advice. Jean and Amara and Kitty are all older and have more experience than I
do, so why not one of them?�
Rogue looked at her for a long moment before answering. �Jean
and Ah clash. We would spend more tahme arguing than doing anything productive.
We can�t stand one another, so could Ah take anything she said at face value?
Kitty is with Lance, no matter what she says, so it�s a conflict of interest.
Ah can�t risk it. Ah�ve dealt with the boys about last night, but it doesn�t
change the fact that Amara is injured, and Ah don�t imagine that she would be
too willing to help even if she wasn�t.
Lahke you said, they all have experience with the X-Men.
That gives them a certain bias toward things. You can give me a blunt opinion
of something, young eyes often see more than other people think, and Wanda and
Ah think that you have potential.�
Wanda and Rogue thought she had potential? Put like that, it
made sense. Rahne wished that the others back at Xavier�s Institute took the
time to explain things like Rogue did. She decided to risk another question.
�Earlier, Jean was wondering why you didn�t try to stop what the boys did to
her and Amara, because they seem to respect you.�
This time Rogue scowled. �Ah spoke with the boys about you
and Amara, and Ah dealt with what happened last night. The boys will back off,
but they would have just ignored meh if I declared all of you off-limits. Even
mah authority only goes so far.
�As for Jean, she has
been trained to fight with and without powers, and has kicked the boys�
collective butts more tahme�s than Ah care to count, much as Ah hate to say it.
Whah should Ah expect her to need or want mah help? Ah�ve learned that if Ah
want something, the world won�t just give it to me. Ah�ll have to work and
fahght for it, and Ah have no respect for those who won�t do the same for
themselves.�
The Goth girl stood up, signifying the end of the
conversation. She moved over to the closet and pulled out a sundress. Seeing
Rahne�s surprised expression, as it did not seen like anything the Goth would
be caught dead in, Rogue graced her with what could have almost been a smile.
�Gag gift from the boys a few years back. Ah didn�t think you�d want to keep
the Maid Outfit. Put it on and go join your friends. If any of the boys bother
you, tell them that Ah�ll hear about it and Ah won�t be letting them off so
lightly. You can talk to your friends about this, but don�t be surprised if
Grey jumps down your throat about it. She won�t lahke that you told me
anything, even if it was to help save your team.�
*�� *�� *�� *�� *�� *
To Rahne�s surprised dismay, Jean was furious when Rahne
told the others what had happened, all but accusing her of betraying the X-Men.
Even Amara, who Rahne thought she would have been able to count on, refused to
look at her.
Left to her own thoughts, Rahne found herself re-evaluating
many of her previously held beliefs. For whatever reason, Kitty was with Lance,
and Rogue and Wanda had quickly disproved the theory of the Brotherhood being
nothing but mindless thugs. From the kitchen scene earlier that morning, they
seemed more like a very rag-tag but closely knit family.
Rogue had shown that while she could be moody and
anti-social, she was also smart and had sound reasoning behind her actions.
Maybe Rahne could learn a few things from her.
Back at the Institute, Rahne had heard stories (Usually from
an outraged Jean) about how no-one at Bayville High ever messed with Rogue or
Wanda, before and after mutants were exposed, while there had been no end of
trouble for the X-Men.
Back at Xavier�s, even her team-mates seemed to think that
she was only there because she was a mutant, not for any unique qualities. The
two Goths, on the other hand, bothered to talk to her, and trusted her to do
things to help, and actually thought that she had potential!
Rogue had spoken to the Brotherhood about her and Amara, but
she hadn�t said what the limitations she placed actually were. Had the boys
been forbidden from touching them at all, or just from doing anything to severely
hurt them?
Jean may have held her own against the Brotherhood before,
but that was usually with the team, or only one of them. Powerless, Rahne had
her doubts that Jean would be able to stand up to even two of the Brotherhood
boys, let alone all of them. Had Rogue overestimated Jean�s skills, or left her
out deliberately?
Suddenly, there was a loud bang, causing them all to jump,
followed by voices yelling from outside. Listening as hard as she could, Rahne
caught yells of �Come out, Muties, we know you�re in there!� and �Mutants are
Monsters! Mutants are Monsters!�
Rushing to the small window, the three X-Men saw that a
large crowd had formed outside the boarding house. Rahne recognized several of
Bayville High�s football team, led by Jean�s Ex-boyfriend, Duncan Mathews.
The door to the room banged open, drawing their attention
away from the window and the ever-growing crowd. Mystique stood in the doorway,
flanked by Wanda and Rogue. Her face was serious as she scanned the room. �Time
to choose, X-Men. The crowd out there are looking for blood, so are you with
us, or against us?�
Rahne thought quickly. If she worked with the Brotherhood,
there was less of a chance of her suffering her team-mates fate, and perhaps
she could lessen the impact from inside.
She stood up, crossing to stand before Rogue. �I don�t want
to let the Humans walk all over me anymore. I won�t let them treat me like an
animal just because I�m different.�
Rogue�s lips curled into the closest thing Rahne had ever
seen to a smile from her. �Good. Go with Wanda; she�ll get you suited up.�
Wanda led Rahne away as Rogue raised an eyebrow at the
remaining two. Amara sneered. �You have got to be joking. I won�t turn traitor
like that.�
Jean paid no attention to what Amara or the Brotherhood was
saying. Seeing the youngest of the X-Girls joining Rogue was apparently the
last straw for Jean, who exploded, shouting after Rahne and Wanda. �Rahne! I
can�t believe you! Are you going to give up the Professor�s Dream, everything
you fought for? You�ll be ��
She fell silent and collapsed to the floor, unconscious, as
Rogue released her. The shape-shifting mutant led her daughter out of the room,
locking the door behind her. �Let�s go.�
*�� *�� *�� *�� *�� *
The Brotherhood assembled in the front hall, Rogue and
Mystique at the head. Kitty and Rahne had had their collars deactivated with a
very descriptive warning, letting them use their powers again. Rogue turned to
face all of them from her place next to Mystique, �Don�t kill unless you have
to. We don�t need them thinking that they have justification for their
actions.�
There was a crash from outside as something hit the door and
bounced off, knocking the door open in the process.
Rogue and Wanda looked at each other, sharing a
not-very-comforting smirk. Wanda�s hands began to glow an ominous blue. Rogue
took off her gloves in a slow, deliberate and terrifying move. Rahne looked at
them, so confident in themselves and their abilities. She straightened and
lifted her chin proudly, trying to match them. The ground began to shake as the
mutants walked out, taking a stand.
Looking back, Rahne couldn�t remember who made the first
move, only that one minute she was facing an angry mob for the second time in
less than a week, and then she was ducking and dodging, her voice a snarl as
she half-morphed to enhance her senses and abilities in the fight.
Chancing a look at the others, Rahne could see Kitty making
her way toward her, phasing through people who tried to grab her, then
solidifying and hitting back. Avalanche was knocking Humans off balance with
his powers, and then laying them out flat with a well-aimed blow. Blob was
simply picking people up and throwing them through the air, knocking others
flat as they landed. Toad�s position was marked by people staggering around and
bumping into each other, blinded by globs of slime. Mystique had shape-shifted
into a panther and was clearly enjoying the pandemonium. Kurt was grabbing
people and bamf-ing them into
tree-tops and other inaccessible places, then bamf-ing back down before they could catch him. The mob knew that
Amanda was a normal human, so didn�t know whether to hit her or not. The young
human used that to her advantage, distracting them while other mutants took
them down. Pietro was running around fast enough to create small whirl-winds,
disorienting people until they either fell, or ran into someone else�s
attack.��
Rogue and Wanda were easy to spot. A cheerleader ran around
screaming, trying to put out the fire in her hair. A nearby lamp-post twisted and
bent, trapping a small group and lifting them into the air. Two large football
players dropped, out like a light. Some idiot shouted what sounded like; �Suck
this power, bitch!� then drew several sympathetic winces at the �thud� sound and the high-pitched shriek
that spoke of a well-aimed kick to the groin.
Someone grabbed Rahne from behind and she shifted fully into
a wolf, sinking her sharp teeth into his arm. They yelled and let go, backing
straight into Kitty�s punch. Wolf-Rahne crouched, and then sprang onto the back
of a crow-bar wielding Human who was trying to sneak up on Toad.
Eventually, the fight ended with the Humans running off in a
disorganized rabble, not bothering to help their wounded, who also made
themselves scarce with surprising speed, despite injuries.�
*�� *�� *�� *�� *�� *
Back inside the Boarding House, Rogue scanned the group.
�Pryde, Rahne, go keep an eye on lava-girl and Grey. We�ll call if we need you.
Amanda, you can go or stay, your choice.�
Kitty and Rahne headed back to their room, Amanda to the
kitchen, while the Brotherhood moved to the room that Rahne had talked to
Mystique and Rogue in earlier.
In the small room that the X-Girls were sharing, however,
things wend downhill faster than Rahne would have thought possible. Amara was
still ignoring her, and Jean was apparently not over Rahne talking about the
X-Men. As soon as Jean noticed that Rahne was simply ignoring her, she promptly
turned her wrath on Kitty over not fighting Lance harder. Kitty had withdrawn
and seemed lost in herself, not listening to the older mutant.
Finding no answer, Jean turned back to Rahne, this time
backed by Amara. �Do you honestly think that getting together with Dracula�s
Daughter and the Basket Case is going to help in any way? They are openly
antagonistic to humans! How do you expect to ever have peace between the two
races if you stick with them?�
The X-Men had to believe that she was joining the
Brotherhood if her plan was to work, and Rahne had had enough, and the last
accusation was the spark that set off the powder keg. Rahne exploded. �So now
we have to bend over backward and let humans walk all over us, do we? The
Brotherhood nearly didn�t even ask for our help because they thought we might
side with the Humans! For your information, Miss High-And-Mighty, the fight at
the School Meeting is over! We were attacked today just for being recognized
mutants! A mob, led by your ex-, didn�t even know who I was, but it
didn�t stop them from attacking me just because I was with people that they
knew were mutants. You think that Humans are just going to accept us? At least
Rogue and Wanda are doing something to protect themselves!�
Jean looked furious. �Well, if the Humans were going to
accept us before, your little fight means that they certainly won�t now! I hope
you�re proud of yourselves!�
Amara gave a very un-princess-like snort of disgust. �So
it�s Rogue and Wanda now, is it? Can�t you see that they are just using you!
And what about Kurt? You can�t tell me that this is normal behaviour for him!
Are you going to go and join the Brotherhood, since you seem to be getting so
cozy with them?�
Rahne glared at the girl who she had always considered a
friend. Yes, she had wondered about Kurt, and resolved to talk to him later,
but that wasn�t the point! Reminding herself that she was doing this for them,
she snapped a reply. �Maybe I should! At least they don�t treat me like a baby
who can�t think for meself! They actually include me and explain what is going
on and give a reason for things! Lots more than I got at the Institute!�
Jean and Amara winced. The older X-Men did tend to treat
Rahne and Jamie like the babies of the Institute. Before they could say
anything, however, Rahne had stalked over to her own corner and was ignoring
them.
*�� *�� *�� *�� *�� *
Upstairs, the other residents, minus Amanda, were holding a
small council about the X-Men and what to do about them. It had taken a while,
as almost everyone had been firmly against rescuing the X-Men, with the
remainder openly sceptical of it. Mystique, however, had remained firm.
Toad, Pietro and Blob, in particular, were looking
distinctly unhappy. �But why do we have to rescue the X-Geeks, yo? It�s not
like they�re going to thank us or anything.�
Rogue sighed; she wasn�t overly keen on the idea either, but
did have to admit that there was reasoning behind it. �Because the X-Geeks are
mutants too, because we can�t stand up to humans if we are busy fighting each
other, and because this way they owe us. Also, let�s face facts; The X-Men are
better trained than us, and today�s attack proves that we need to work together
if we want to survive! The Normals out-number us and it�s only a matter of time
before they try again! Does anyone have a properly valid reason not to do this?
Aside from our competition with the idiots?�
No one really did. Mutant unity and superiority, after all.
Pietro had a suggestion. �Can�t Wanda just make it so that they escape all by
themselves?�
Wanda shook her head. �I am not strong enough to affect
things on such a large scale. I could wind up just making things worse.�
Another question; �What about getting Wolverine and the
others to just come quietly, instead of fighting us?�
This time, Wanda actually laughed. �Not even my hexes could
do that. Some probabilities just won�t
be defied.�
Mystique brought them back to the point. �We can�t do
anything until things have settled down slightly, so if any of you come of with
anything else we can add, say so. For now, Kurt and Rogue are on dinner. Wanda,
find a room for Wolfsbane, it won�t hurt to point out the advantages of being
on the team. I assume Kitty is staying with Avalanche. The rest of you try to
find something useful to do.�
The Brotherhood scattered, Kurt wrapping an arm around his
sister�s waist as they headed down to join Amanda in the kitchen. �Vhat vere
you and our Muzzer so exited about earlier, anyvay?�
Rogue glanced at him. She had known that the girlish squeal
and throwing herself into Mystique�s arms at the news would come back to haunt
her. �You remember Forge?�
Kurt nodded. Actually, he tried not to remember his
experiences with the mutant inventor. What with being sucked into Middle-Verse
and the dinosaurs from the school dance, it tended to give him nightmares.
Rogue continued, �Well, apparently he�s working on something
to help control mah mutation. It involves a heap of technical and scientific
babble that Ah didn�t understand, but it acts sort of like a suppression
collar, except that it only affects mah absorption powers. Ah can still use the
ones that Ah already absorbed. If Ah need my absorbing powers, Ah can just turn
it off again.�
Kurt grinned at his sister in delight, knowing how much his
sister craved touch. Rogue gave him another of her all-too-rare unguarded
smiles and wrapped her arm around him. �Come on, fuzzy. It�s still only a
theory, and it�s still our turn with dinner.�
Kurt draped his own arm over his sister�s shoulders, voice
going serious. �How is Muzzer now? I mean, how is she recovering from Area 51?�
Rogue sighed. Mystique still suffered lingering effects from
her imprisonment, but she was a proud woman, and would never show it. �She
hides it well, but she is still healing. I think that part of it is from shock.
Even Mama didn�t think that even the X-Men would leave another mutant in that
Hell-hole, especially when they had just finished rescuing four others.�
Kurt nodded in agreement. That action had sent the X-Men
into the category of being worse than Trask, as far as he was concerned. That
reminded him� �Vhy vas Kitty here at breakfast? I thought zat she and Lance
were over.�
Rogue sighed again, this time in annoyed exasperation. �The other
boys brought Shadowcat and three more back after the Fight at the school. Ah
don�t know what is going on between Kitty and Lance, but Ah was hoping to
recruit Rahne.�
Kurt shook his head. The other boys were his friends, but
they could be idiots at times. �I probably don�t vant to know, but who else?
Please tell me they did not recover that psychotic Blonde.�
Rogue smiled slightly. While he did not hate her as Rogue
did, Kurt also thought that Boom-Boom was insane, and didn�t want a repeat of
the last time the two girls had locked claws, so to speak. �Nah, they were
smart enough not to go that far. The other two are Jean Grey and Magma. Ah�m
torn between dealing with the situation, or just letting the boys do what they
want.�
Kurt shrugged. �Let the others at them. The best way to get
to Summers is through Jean, and Magma is way too uptight for anyone to deal
with.�
Rogue�s grin turned almost malicious. �I like your thinking.
If Amanda doesn�t mind, feel free to join in.�
Kurt shrugged again, and then grinned brightly. �Maybe.
Since I�m so clever, vhat are my chances of convincing you to make fried
chicken tonight?�
Rogue laughed as they continued to the kitchen. �We�ll see.
Come on.�

~�� *�
��~�� *��
~�� *�� ~��
*�� ~
A/N: Hopefully, this
makes up for Chapter Three. If you like the fic, please review and tell me what
you think. If you don�t like it, no one is forcing you to read, and you are
free to go elsewhere if you don�t like it, instead of wasting time telling me
that I�m a shitty writer.
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To The Victor...