Of Queens and Demons

PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Several changes have been added to this chapter, the previous one, and the following ones. Although I've kept a lot of the plot the same, you may want to read through some previous chapters again – the X-Men's mission happens later to make way for some more plot/character development. I think I jumped the gun a little too soon with Hellfire – I'd like to go back and flesh out a little more interaction between Emma and the rest of the X-Men in order to make the finale all the more dramatic. So, apologies, but I think it'll be worth it in the end.

And, as usual, thanks for the reviews.

X X X

It took nearly an hour before Xavier was able to round up every resident in the mansion and pack them into the Danger Room. Thankfully, after that, the professor didn't waste any time in getting straight to the point.

“The reason why I've asked you all to gather here this evening is because I want to start incorporating more training sessions into the curriculum effective immediately.”

Some of the new recruits groaned, as they already felt pretty over-worked. Emma seemed excited at the prospect, while Scott remained ever the stony leader.

“Someone is recruiting mutants and turning them into common criminals. Considering the current state of mutant politics in the media, we cannot let this act go unnoticed. If we are to ever co-exist peaceably with humans, we need to maintain a friendly face. That is why we must put a stop to these acts.”

“Yeah, like that's gonna change how they see us,” Bobby muttered under his breath.

Xavier either didn't hear the comment or chose to ignore it. “As many of you already know, in order to maintain a position of peace, we sometimes must contend with other mutants who may not share our vision of mutants and humans living together in harmony. But I fear that this threat is far worse than any other renegade mutants we have faced – the Brotherhood, for example. Since we defeated Apocalypse, combat has taken a back-seat to more pressing concerns. If we have any chance of stopping this group and proving to the world that the X-Men stand for both mutant and human, we must be in peak condition.

“Wolverine will be heading daily Danger Room runs with the senior team of Cyclops, Jean, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Rogue. I've decided to add a few mutants to this group. I believe that Iceman, Magma, Tabitha, and Emma have proven themselves worthy of this honor.”

Amara and Tabitha shared a high-five to celebrate their promotion, while Bobby puffed out his chest with pride. Emma Frost was the only mutant unfazed by Xavier's proposal.

“Rahne, Sunspot, Ray, Angel, Jubilee, X-23, and Multiple will study under Storm, while Hank will take the rest of you.”

“Ah man,” Warren groaned to Jubilee. “I'm still stuck on the Junior X-Squad.” He shrugged. “Well, I guess that's what I get for taking too many trips to help my father with his company.”

“And I watch far too much anime,” she returned grumpily. Wolverine had threatened several times to call the cable company and cancel Cartoon Network if she missed any more of his sessions in favor of the latest Blood + episode.

“I expect that all of you will not use this as an excuse to neglect your homework.” Tabitha did not miss his meaningful glance. “In the meantime, I will be collecting more data through Cerebro.”

“May I make a suggestion?”

Xavier nodded and Storm stood to address the room. “I propose that the three of us coordinate training sessions so that each team will be able to interact with each other in battle. Teamwork is the most important element of battle, and there will be some instances when we cannot pick and choose what team to send out. Therefore, every student should be familiar with each other's powers and battle style.”

“That is an excellent plan,” Charles praised. He looked to Hank and Logan. “Do the two of you agree?”

They nodded.

“Well then, I have some matters to attend to. The new sessions will start at nine sharp Monday morning. I suggest that you all take this weekend to rest up and prepare for what awaits you.”

The room buzzed with conversation as the mutants shuffled out of the room.

“Congratulations on joining the official X-Team,” Kitty told Emma, catching her arm on their way out.

“Thank you, Katherine,” she replied with a smile. “I'm excited to work with you. I've never met anyone who could phase through walls. That power has to come in handy.” Emma eyed Rogue meaningfully, who was right behind the two.

“Oh, it's not as great as you might think.”

“All right!” Nightcrawler cried, teleporting between Emma and Kitty in a flash of smoke. “I get the pleasure of vorking with the most beautiful voman in the mansion. Vhat luck! Ve are gonna give Logan a run for his money!”

“Kurt!” Kitty shouted, waving a hand in front of her nose. “Your teleporting totally stinks. Plus, what do you mean 'the most beautiful woman in the mansion', you big fur ball?”

“Oops, I just forgot that I left the xbox on in my room,” Kurt said lamely and disappeared in another cloud of brimstone.

“Ooooh, if I could just get my hands on that fuzzy elf!” Shadowcat growled with balled fists.

“My, you two would make quite the couple,” Emma teased, amused by the exchange.

“Me and Kurt?” She mimicked gagging. “Oh please, I'd never date that jerk in a million years. Besides,” a blush crept to her cheeks when she continued, “I kind of like Colossus.”

“That Tin Man I've seen around lately?”

Kitty nodded. “Yeah. I know that he was with the Acolytes, but it was totally against his will. We've been talking and stuff, and I think he, like, really wants to join the team. At least that's what he told the professor last week.”

“Well,” Emma purred, “I wish you the best of luck in catching Mr. Tall Dark and Russian.”

“Kitty,” Rogue said, cutting between the girls, “can I talk to you about... you know...” Her voice trailed off as she eyed Emma, who looked on with smug amusement.

“Sorry, Rogue,” Kitty murmured, “but I just don't think I can help. Why don't you ask Nightcrawler or something?”

“Because I wanted *you* to help,” she hissed.

“Help with what?” Emma inquired mock-curiously.

“Oh, just something Rogue needed with her computer,” Shadowcat stammered.

“I happen to be an ace with computers,” she said gleefully. “I could help if you'd like.”

“I've had enough of your help,” Rogue spat back with a dangerous glare. Then she turned to Kitty and pressed a bare fingertip to her bared shoulder. The contact lasted for only a split second, long enough for Rogue to access Kitty's power, but not long enough to knock the girl out. “And if you won't help me, then I guess I'll have to help myself.”

“Hey!” Kitty shivered, needing a second to recover from the transfer. “Rogue, why'd you do that?”

But Rogue had already phased through the crowd. She turned to White Queen, who shrugged. Yet when Katherine turned away, a pleased look formed on her fair features. So, Rogue was going to look through Xavier's files. Only Emma was sure she wouldn't be too pleased with what she found.

X X X

Rogue didn't knock when she entered Emma Frost's bedroom later that night. Since White Queen had conveniently left the door unlocked, Rogue burst in and angrily, unapologetically crossed over to the blond, slamming a stack of papers onto her desk. “I read them,” she said. “But none of this answers my question. Why did you read these files? What was it you were lookin' for?”

Emma, who had been painting her toe nails an iridescent white, looked up and sighed. “It's not unreasonable for a new X-Man to research her fellow teammates.”

“You could've just asked the professor about us. You didn't have to hack into his personal files. I'll ask again – what exactly were you lookin' for?”

The blond telepath rolled her eyes. “Do you always get your news from CNN?” she asked pointedly. “If I wanted to get the skinny on you and your friends, I couldn't trust what Charles Xavier told me. At least, not completely. Can you fault me for thorough research?”

“Too thorough. You read things that I have never told anyone else. Things that you shouldn't know about me. How could you do that? I trusted you.” Rogue did not use the word trust lightly. She said the word with such gravity that Emma knew Rogue even giving trust was no small feat.

“What are you really upset about? That I read your darkest secrets or that Professor Xavier is not the man you imagined?”

“Stop makin' this about him,” Rogue snarled. “This is about you. You and your weird obsession with me and my power.”

“But it does upset you, doesn't it? That Xavier wrote such things about you – about all of his students? He preaches love, trust and cohabitation like a regular Martin Luther King Jr., but he has no second thoughts in creating a back-up plan in case one of his acolytes chose to abandon his teachings.”

Rogue ignored Emma's deliberate use of “acolytes”, knowing well what she was getting at. “With great power comes great responsibility,” she argued. “I'm not happy with what I read, but I can understand the need to come up with the plan. What if you went around, invadin' people's minds and doin' whatever you wanted with your telepathy? I'm not sayin' that we should be monitored like the politicians suggest, but even you should see the point in makin' sure every freak who thinks big doesn't get a hold of some walkin' A-bomb.”

“And you think Xavier is right in rounding up countless 'A-bombs' and using them to further his goal for peace between mutants and humans? More right than say – Magneto or Mystique?”

She opened her mouth to retort that Xavier would never use mutants to destroy humans, but Emma wouldn't hear such a weak argument. She pressed on.

“Does it make any difference?” Emma blew on her toes, wiggled them freely, then looked up at Rogue. “Me, Xavier, Magneto, Mystique – we all use you, no matter how much we may care for you. Does it matter which side you're on when you're only an ends to the means? Even if you prefer his optimistic viewpoint, you're still a weapon to Xavier.”

“So, accordin' to that logic, you also have a 'means'. What do you want from me, then?”

Emma rose from the armchair, something wild and dark shining in her usually cold blue eyes. Rogue stumbled back a little as the blond stepped toward her. She hadn't seen Emma like this, even in their deepest moments of passion. “What do I want? You, my dear, are a diamond in the rough.” Her lips mimicked a smile, yet they couldn't make it look convincing. “And I certainly love diamonds. Think how brilliantly you could shine with just a little more discipline. You may think me evil, cruel or cold, and you wouldn't be very far off on either. But I won't hold you to such standard. We both no you're no more heroic or moral than I am.”

“I'm no hero,” she agreed, “but I'm not a bad girl. And I refuse to let you make me into one. Xavier teaches us to use our power for good. Yet you seem to think I could even use my power for evil. That's what you're after, isn't it? To lure me to the dark side?”

“No,” she murmured, closing the distance between them and cupping Rogue's chin with a diamond hand. “I don't care what you do with the knowledge I'm giving you. All I care about is seeing you in all your glory – uninhibited, uncovered, unafraid. I won't blind you with false promises or fairy tales. Use your gift however you wish. I just want you to know all your options before you choose one path.”

“It's not a gift,” Rogue objected hoarsely, trying to look away from Emma's hard gaze. “It's a curse.”

She forced Rogue to meet her eyes. “It's only a curse if you let it become one.”

Then her lips came crashing down too fast for Rogue to avoid them. The kiss was fierce and possessive, always leading and never letting Rogue take control. She wanted to fight it, but she couldn't rebel against every sinew in her body that sang out in desire at the contact. She could only pretend to fight – pretend to not crave those lips, those probing fingers. “Emma,” she moaned, wriggling against the older woman's hold, “Emma, please... stop.”

“Is that want you want?” she hissed, kissing the corner of Rogue's mouth all the way to her neck. Emma slipped her tongue inside Rogue's ear, earning a surprised cry. “Do you really want me to stop?”

A hundred different emotions ran through Rogue's mind. She was frightened, scared, confused, ashamed, angry – but ultimately she was full of lust. And it was this last emotion to which she surrendered. She gave into Emma's torrent of kisses, allowing the blond to pick her up and lay her on the bed.

“No,” she gasped when Emma paused at the zipper of her skirt, “don't stop.”

It didn't matter. None of it mattered. Let Emma snoop. Let her create a monster out of Rogue. She didn't care. So long as Emma kissed her, caressed her, loved her, she knew nothing else. It was sick. It was pathetic. But it was touch.

X X X

Scott Summers still didn't know what to make of last night's dream. It wasn't as if having an erotic dream about someone other than your girlfriend was some carnal sin or anomaly. From what he'd heard from the other males of the mansion, you were strange if you didn't imagine fucking Emma Frost – no matter who you happened to be dating at the time. Still, something seemed wrong about the whole situation. Scott Summers didn't dream about other women. He loved Jean with his heart, his body and his soul. Let the others dream about Emma. She couldn't hold a candle to Jean Grey – to her long, lean legs that seemed to go on for ever or her smooth, sculpted stomach and perfect breasts. So why did the dream excite him? Why couldn't he stop thinking about it?

Thankfully, Jean seemed perfectly incredulous. He was worried that she might pick up on his anxiety. After all, she had been on high-alert since Emma step one foot into the place. But she was too wound up about Xavier's meeting to notice his distance.

“I wonder who this mysterious mutant is,” she said suddenly. “What do you think his power is? Isn't it odd that the professor didn't tell us?”

“Maybe the professor doesn't know,” Scott replied, coming back down to earth. “He doesn't seem to sure on a lot of the details regarding this situation.”

“That's why I think it's so strange. I mean, the professor not knowing something is like... well I guess God not being omnipotent.” She giggled. “Few things are secret to telepaths. You should know that, Scott.”

He gulped nervously, but managed to return the laugh. “Maybe he has some sort of blocker, like Magneto's helmet,” he suggested.

“That is a good point,” Jean conceded. “But it's also a scary point. This person must know who we are if he's gone through so much trouble to shield himself from psionic attacks.”

“Well, we are on TV.”

Jean turned on her back and looked up at the ceiling. Her wistful expression turned serious. “I don't know why, but I have a terrible feeling about this,” she murmured. “I know I'm not a psychic, but the professor would never make us train so much without good cause. What if this guy is really dangerous?”

“We've defeated Apocalypse, and I know that none of us thought we'd overcome that *obstacle*,” Scott said, providing, as always, the voice of reason.

“I guess you're right,” she sighed, turning to face her boyfriend again. Smiling, she planted a playful kiss on his nose. “We should get some sleep, though. It's late.”

“All right,” Cyclops replied, reaching over to switch off the beside lamp. Jean snuggled under the covers, pressing her body next to his. It was impossible for him to keep such close proximity and not be immediately turned on. Jean already felt his hardness poking into her backside. He moved his hand down her back and over her her waist, loitering at swell of her hips. “But I think someone still owes me a treat...”

“I suppose I do,” she whispered huskily, turning her head to capture his mouth in hers.

X X X

'Can't sleep,' thought Emma Frost, glancing at the alarm clock that mocked her with its large, red numbers indicating 2:33 A.M. Rogue had fallen asleep in her bed that night, too exhausted to return to her own room. She curled into a ball around Emma's pillow, murmuring something in her sleep. The blond reached out to stroke her lover's skin, but thought better of it. 'It's not fair to pull her into my insomnia,' she reasoned.

Xavier said she would be part of the senior team come Monday. That made her a full-blown X-Man, if only for a while. But she wasn't naive enough to believe her sleeplessness was due to pre-mission jitters. She had gotten over the first-day-of-school-anxiety years ago. Besides, it was only training. If she messed up, it wouldn't be the end of the world. No, something else had seized her mind and wouldn't let her rest.

'Why did I tell Rogue about the professor?' she wondered. 'It wasn't necessary. We could've continued our lessons and our love-making without her ever having to know about that. In fact, it would be easier if she didn't know.'

'Was I trying to drive her away from Xavier? To what purpose?'

'Hellfire,' her mind kept screaming, but Emma refused to listen to it. She hadn't lied when she told Rogue the reason to her game of espionage. She wanted the real truth about Rogue and her teammates, without any of the pretty lies Xavier seemed so intent on handing out. But something deep inside her – something she refused to admit existed – knew that her curiosity did serve a goal. She wanted Rogue to herself, but for what she did not know.

Emma had always been attracted to powerful mutants, and Rogue was no exception. Though the girl didn't know it yet, she held thousands of possibilities in those dangerous little hands of hers. Her youth and inexperience added to the attraction. Emma imagined the girl as a lump of potter's clay just waiting to be molded into a work of art. Images of Rogue in black leather clouded her mind. 'No,' she thought, 'not that kind of art. She's not that kind of girl.'

'But she could be...'

She shook that possibility away. Rogue didn't want to be “evil,” and she had to respect that wish. Besides, Emma herself was trying her hand at the hero role. She didn't want to compromise her place with X-Men, especially since Xavier already wanted her as a part of the team.

Rogue stirred, moaning some nonsense. Emma smiled, admiring the girl, naked save for a flimsy sheet that she had wound around her body to keep from absorbing Emma in her sleep. It had slipped from her shoulders, exposing her full breasts. “So beautiful,” she whispered. “So troubled, yet so innocent. So stubborn, yet so vulnerable. Not at all like the diamond she could become.”

Is that what she wanted? To make Rogue into something hard, resilient? A lot had happened before Emma was able to call up a diamond skin. She had been pierced by so many things, dragged to the very depths of hell. Was that what she wished for Rogue?

“Emma?”

She blinked, looking around the dark room to find Rogue looking up at her with sleepy eyes. “Yes,” she whispered, “what is it, dear?”

“You okay?”

“Mmm hmm,” she lied. “It's just hard to fall asleep with you naked next to me. I don't think I can keep my diamond skin up all night, and I loathe to wear pajamas.”

Rogue looked down guiltily. “I'm sorry. I didn't even think about that. I'm so used to...”

Emma kissed her forehead with diamond lips. “Don't apologize for being you.”

“I can go back to my room if you want,” she offered. “Kitty's probably wonderin' where I'm at anyway. And if she knew-”

“Hush,” she cooed, “no one is going to find out anything. At least, not until we're ready to tell them.” Emma crawled out of bed and padded over to her dresser. “I have a pair of long pajamas that are rather thin. You can put them on, but I won't have you leave.” Placing the garment on Rogue's side of the bed, she gave a soothing smile. “I want you to stay. I like laying with you like this.”

“Me too,” Rogue said. She began pulling on the flimsy, white shirt and pants, marveling at how she could've fallen asleep without being covered from head to toe. Rogue always slept fully clothed. Even with a roommate that could phase through her, sleeping nude like Emma only meant accidents for Rogue. “You shoulda woke me earlier. I would've covered myself.”

“I liked watching you sleep,” Emma admitted. “And you know I hate seeing you suffocating under layers. Especially with a body like yours.”

The goth shivered when Emma traced her spine with a fingertip to demonstrate just how pleasing she found Rogue's curves. The girl had such a tiny waist for such wide hips and generous bust. She could fluctuate between a C-cup and and D given her diet or water retention, and Emma had noticed a change more than once. It was a little quirk that she absolutely loved about Rogue. Danger Room runs had definitely toned her body, but all the training in the world couldn't possibly take away the femininity of Rogue's figure. Only a god in love with irony would place such a deadly mutant power inside such a pleasing form.

“Ready for round three already?” Rogue asked with a chuckle. They had made love twice before Rogue had collapsed in Emma's arms, too tired and satiated to remember her former fury at her instructor or the strange things she had discovered in Xavier's files.

“It would help me sleep,” Emma purred in her lover's ear.

“Well, I don't wanna mess my clothes up after I just put them on,” she returned, leaning on an elbow to flash Emma a lecherous grin. “Maybe you should let me do all the work this time.”

“Not a bad idea,” she agreed, moaning as Rogue, true to her word, began kissing her diamond neck. “But are you sure you can do it without getting hot and bothered yourself?” She raised a brow, knowing full well how horny her charge could get at the smallest touch.

“We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Rogue murmured, moving her lips down to Emma's firm stomach. The blond shook with desire, wetness blooming in her crotch already.

Emma Frost fell asleep ten minutes later, still quaking with little aftershocks of her orgasm, head buried in Rogue's chest.