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Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
 
 
 

Betrayal - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Valerie Jones
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 19

The door slid aside, the customary whisper sounding inordinately loud to Rogue's ears. She stepped inside and heard it slide shut behind her. She was left only with silence and the rapid pounding of her heart. The Witness stood at the center of the room and watched her without expression.

"So you come to see me after all, ma cherie," he said as she crossed the distance between them.

Rogue nodded and licked her lips nervously. She had stopped several feet from him, and wasn't sure if she were standing too far away, or too close. For her, he radiated the same magnetism as his younger counterpart, and Rogue was frightened by how she was drawn to him. She kept remembering the things Bishop had told her, but she wanted to know the truth for herself.

"Ah-- ah wanted t' ask y'all about. . . . us," she stammered. She could not look him directly in the eyes and so found herself staring straight ahead. Her eyes were in line with the clasp of his cloak, and she stared at the twist of gold for a long time before she recognized it-- it was an elongated spade, tied in a knot. She wondered briefly what it might symbolize, but his words jerked her back to the present.

"Still lookin' f' guarantees, chere? I can't give y' any o' dose. You should know dat by now."

"Ah know." Still she couldn't look at him.

"Den what y' lookin' for here?"

She shook her head. "Ah don't know. Maybe ah shouldn't have come." She started to turn away, but his hand closed on her arm. Startled, she looked up at him and was instantly burned away by the intensity of his gaze. She did not resist as he drew her close.

"Do y' really want t' know `bout us?" he asked softly.

Rogue could only stare at him. She knew he was just a hologram, made solid by Shi'ar technological magic, but the fingers that gripped her arm were warm through the fabric of her shirt. She could see the flicker of his pulse beneath the pale skin of his throat, and she knew that if she leaned forward just so, she could kiss him. But how could a lifeless hologram stir such reactions from her? How could her skin ache, anticipating his touch? How could his very presence send a flood of warmth through her if he wasn't even real?

The Witness seemed to have no trouble reading her emotions. With the other hand he reached up to cup her cheek. Rogue jerked her head away with a gasp.

"Can't hurt a hologram, chere," he chided her. His cold expression had softened. His fingers reached towards her once again.

Rogue froze, torn between stark terror and the desperate desire to feel his touch. She knew, she *knew* her powers couldn't affect him, but having hurt Remy so badly once, and with all of the things that had happened afterward, she wasn't certain she could surrender to another touch. This man was older, yes, intimidating and powerful in ways she could not describe, but he was still Remy. Her heart didn't see any difference.

Her indecision made the choice for her. Rogue felt the warmth of skin against her face. His thumb brushed across her cheek in a gentle caress.

"See, chere?"

Rogue covered his hand with her own and closed her eyes, pretending, just for a moment, that it was real. Then she looked directly at him.

"Were we happy?" she asked.

"Oui."

She blinked. "And?" She had been hoping for a little more.

"What else y' want t' hear, girl?" There was anger in his gaze now, though he still held her close. "Dat y' were de only woman I ever really loved? Dat I watched y' die in an instant? Dat every. . . . *day*. . . . I remember de smell of y' hair and what it felt like t' make love t' you?"

". . . . make love. . . ?" Rogue was overwhelmed by the sudden rush of his emotions.

His next words were scathing. "Y' didn't really t'ink it was y' *powers* dat kept us apart f' so long, did ya?" His grip on her arm tightened.

"Ah. . . . you're lyin'!" She twisted out of his grasp, a cold knot in her stomach.

"Am I?" The Witness folded his arms and watched her cooly.

"Ya know ah can't control mah powers!"

"I never said anyt'ing `bout *controllin'* your powers." His expression quirked. "Though y' did eventually get de hang o' dat, too."

Rogue was stunned. She did not want to believe him. The implications were too frightening. "Ah don't believe ya," she said, but she knew the words lacked conviction.

"Really, chere?" He closed the distance between them. One arm circled her waist, his fingers tangling in her hair, the other hand tilted her chin up until their eyes met. "Did y' ever consider just how *many* ways dere are t' get around y' powers?" His gaze held her more firmly than any adamantium bonds.

Rogue wanted to pull away-- to call him a liar and deny everything he said. But the cold, sinking fear that had invaded her insides made it all too obvious that he was telling the truth. She could only stare at him as he leaned toward her.

"Don' be afraid," he whispered in the last moment before their lips met. A core of warmth formed inside Rogue, radiating heat to every corner of her body. She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, inhaling deeply the scents of warm silk and tobacco.

Suddenly, the arms that held her were gone, and Rogue staggered. There was nothing but empty space where the Witness had been.

Startled, she looked around.

"Rogue, what were you doing?" Storm's voice came through the danger room's sound system.

"What happened?" She was too startled to register Ororo's presence immediately.

"I shut down the program. What were you doing?" Rogue felt her cheeks flare. She looked away from the figure that stood in the control room observation bubble.

"What were ya doin' spyin' on me?" she retorted.

"I was not spying on you." Rogue could hear the forced patience in the other woman's voice. "I just came in to do the checklist."

"Well, ah guess ya'd better get to it." Rogue flew to the door, dipping through it as soon as it had opened wide enough. She couldn't explain why she was suddenly so angry, except perhaps because Ororo had been witness to a dream she did not particularly want to share.

 

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