Fic: Taking Chances
Title: Taking Chances
Pairing: Rogue/Wanda
Rating: PG (If it is continued, which I'm not promising, that could well change)
Notes: This is based primarily on the X-Men: Evolution versions of the characters though I imagine it's slightly AU from that as well.
They’d graduated from High School and things weren’t working any more. Maybe it was fine for Scott, who’d known that he was meant to be an X-Man, meant to be a part of Xavier’s school for years. Maybe Jean and Kitty were satisfied with the idea of going off to school in university to better themselves before coming back and fighting for the cause. Their maybes didn’t do a thing for Rogue.
She could have gotten into a college, but since she hadn’t put that much effort into being a good student, she’d have to take more of the professor’s money to do it. That didn’t feel right. And maybe, again just maybe, she didn’t want to feel that much indebted to him. Not owing him so much would make it easier to leave once it got to her. It would get to her, was starting to get to her, being constantly ready to fight, either terrified or bored. She couldn’t live this way forever. It wasn’t working.
Rogue should have been back at the mansion an hour ago. She’d slowly taken the slowest possible way home in order to have her thoughts to herself. At the mansion she always felt like she was isolated and never alone in her head, all at the same time. It probably wasn’t fair. The professor was a moral man and he didn’t snoop more than necessary. He taught any other psychics that came the school’s way the same strict code that, to her knowledge, he lived by.
The familiar sounds of fighting broke into Rogue’s musings. It didn’t occur to her that it wasn’t her friends. The X-Men were always involved. It wasn’t a full second before her conditioned body was running towards the fray. A loud battle didn’t really bode well for the good guys.
Things didn’t look good. Rogue had found a good, hidden vantage point to assess the situation from and what she was seeing wasn’t giving her great amounts of hope. The Brotherhood was there, including Mystique and worse yet, Wanda. Wanda was using both her abilities, canceling out the powers of everyone in the area, excluding herself, and also inciting objects that should be stationary to harass the X-Men. She was wearing a helmet like the one her father used, so even if Xavier tried to get involved away from the area of effect he wouldn’t be able to touch her. The Brotherhood were playing with her friends, mocking them. The Brotherhood, they weren’t killers, but this had the smell of Magneto and if he was due to arrive, he’d bring people that didn’t have the same qualms with him. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure that they were currently just stalling. If she was going to save the others she was going to have to take out Wanda before Phase 2 started.
She’d already seen Wanda and knew where she was stationed. If Rogue backtracked a little she could come around behind her. If she was careful and quiet enough, she could perhaps take her out of the equation. Her powers wouldn’t work, but a strong right to the head could do the trick anyway.
Rogue was focused and she was moving like the trained killer Xavier hoped none of them would really have to be, but she was also extremely nervous. She didn’t miss a step but she also didn’t see the sewer grate start to move. It was a ward, a warning system, and with the noise it made tripping up the X-Man, Wanda spun just in time to catch Rogue’s wrists, barely keeping them from colliding.
All that Rogue could think was that she’d failed. They were all going to die here. And also, this was her last chance. As she lifted her head she allowed herself the excuse that it might be enough to distract Wanda before she kissed the Scarlet Witch. There was a flutter, and the grate that held her loosened before Wanda jerked back, a stern look showing that she was fiercely reasserting her control. The grate clamped against her leg and Rogue knew that any lapse of the power null shield was over and that it hadn’t been enough to turn things their way.
“Why?” Wanda demanded.
The question shocked Rogue. She’d expected to be knocked out, possibly killed, not to be questioned. Her answer stumbled out without preparation thanks to her surprise, “I thought it was my last chance. That I could touch someone.” She pressed her eyes shut, embarrassed and angry, both at what she was admitting and the fact that just like all emotional moments, her accent was back at full force. She wasn’t going to get to die with any dignity whatsoever.
If Rogue was shocked the last time Wanda spoke, it was nothing compared to what came next. “You can’t control your own power. You need someone else to control it for you.” Now she sounded triumphant. “You need me in order to touch.” When Rogue’s eyes flew open in shock Wanda continued with a predatory smirk on her face. “What would you do to keep your friends alive? What would you give?”
It could be a trick, or it could be an actual chance for the others. Saying ‘no’ certainly wouldn’t get Rogue anywhere. “Anything,” she breathed, “if you let them go, I’ll give you anything as long as it’s mine.”
“You.”
“What?”
There was no trace of a grin, just absolute seriousness in Wanda’s voice. “Come with me. Do as I say. Don’t try to double cross me- I’ll be watching. Agree to belong to me and we’ll walk away from this. My anti-power shield will fall and I won’t come against your friends as long as you keep your part of the bargain.”
There were very few people as powerful as the Scarlet Witch, fewer that could make the X-Men so useless. To be safe from coming against her again would be huge. It would probably be worth losing a member who was halfway out the door already. It was hardly a choice. “I’ll do it.” And Wanda could let her touch. Maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she’d make it awkward and awful but… maybe it was her only chance to have something, anything beyond words, with another human being. “I’ll do it,” she repeated, but Wanda was already leading her away.
Wanda made a large cash withdrawal. Rogue made a call to Xavier’s to tell him not to look for her, that she didn’t need saving. And then they made use of all kinds of transportation, human-run and mutant only, until there was no chance of a ‘chance’ encounter with anyone either of them had ever known.
Pairing: Rogue/Wanda
Rating: PG (If it is continued, which I'm not promising, that could well change)
Notes: This is based primarily on the X-Men: Evolution versions of the characters though I imagine it's slightly AU from that as well.
They’d graduated from High School and things weren’t working any more. Maybe it was fine for Scott, who’d known that he was meant to be an X-Man, meant to be a part of Xavier’s school for years. Maybe Jean and Kitty were satisfied with the idea of going off to school in university to better themselves before coming back and fighting for the cause. Their maybes didn’t do a thing for Rogue.
She could have gotten into a college, but since she hadn’t put that much effort into being a good student, she’d have to take more of the professor’s money to do it. That didn’t feel right. And maybe, again just maybe, she didn’t want to feel that much indebted to him. Not owing him so much would make it easier to leave once it got to her. It would get to her, was starting to get to her, being constantly ready to fight, either terrified or bored. She couldn’t live this way forever. It wasn’t working.
Rogue should have been back at the mansion an hour ago. She’d slowly taken the slowest possible way home in order to have her thoughts to herself. At the mansion she always felt like she was isolated and never alone in her head, all at the same time. It probably wasn’t fair. The professor was a moral man and he didn’t snoop more than necessary. He taught any other psychics that came the school’s way the same strict code that, to her knowledge, he lived by.
The familiar sounds of fighting broke into Rogue’s musings. It didn’t occur to her that it wasn’t her friends. The X-Men were always involved. It wasn’t a full second before her conditioned body was running towards the fray. A loud battle didn’t really bode well for the good guys.
Things didn’t look good. Rogue had found a good, hidden vantage point to assess the situation from and what she was seeing wasn’t giving her great amounts of hope. The Brotherhood was there, including Mystique and worse yet, Wanda. Wanda was using both her abilities, canceling out the powers of everyone in the area, excluding herself, and also inciting objects that should be stationary to harass the X-Men. She was wearing a helmet like the one her father used, so even if Xavier tried to get involved away from the area of effect he wouldn’t be able to touch her. The Brotherhood were playing with her friends, mocking them. The Brotherhood, they weren’t killers, but this had the smell of Magneto and if he was due to arrive, he’d bring people that didn’t have the same qualms with him. The more she thought about it, the more she was sure that they were currently just stalling. If she was going to save the others she was going to have to take out Wanda before Phase 2 started.
She’d already seen Wanda and knew where she was stationed. If Rogue backtracked a little she could come around behind her. If she was careful and quiet enough, she could perhaps take her out of the equation. Her powers wouldn’t work, but a strong right to the head could do the trick anyway.
Rogue was focused and she was moving like the trained killer Xavier hoped none of them would really have to be, but she was also extremely nervous. She didn’t miss a step but she also didn’t see the sewer grate start to move. It was a ward, a warning system, and with the noise it made tripping up the X-Man, Wanda spun just in time to catch Rogue’s wrists, barely keeping them from colliding.
All that Rogue could think was that she’d failed. They were all going to die here. And also, this was her last chance. As she lifted her head she allowed herself the excuse that it might be enough to distract Wanda before she kissed the Scarlet Witch. There was a flutter, and the grate that held her loosened before Wanda jerked back, a stern look showing that she was fiercely reasserting her control. The grate clamped against her leg and Rogue knew that any lapse of the power null shield was over and that it hadn’t been enough to turn things their way.
“Why?” Wanda demanded.
The question shocked Rogue. She’d expected to be knocked out, possibly killed, not to be questioned. Her answer stumbled out without preparation thanks to her surprise, “I thought it was my last chance. That I could touch someone.” She pressed her eyes shut, embarrassed and angry, both at what she was admitting and the fact that just like all emotional moments, her accent was back at full force. She wasn’t going to get to die with any dignity whatsoever.
If Rogue was shocked the last time Wanda spoke, it was nothing compared to what came next. “You can’t control your own power. You need someone else to control it for you.” Now she sounded triumphant. “You need me in order to touch.” When Rogue’s eyes flew open in shock Wanda continued with a predatory smirk on her face. “What would you do to keep your friends alive? What would you give?”
It could be a trick, or it could be an actual chance for the others. Saying ‘no’ certainly wouldn’t get Rogue anywhere. “Anything,” she breathed, “if you let them go, I’ll give you anything as long as it’s mine.”
“You.”
“What?”
There was no trace of a grin, just absolute seriousness in Wanda’s voice. “Come with me. Do as I say. Don’t try to double cross me- I’ll be watching. Agree to belong to me and we’ll walk away from this. My anti-power shield will fall and I won’t come against your friends as long as you keep your part of the bargain.”
There were very few people as powerful as the Scarlet Witch, fewer that could make the X-Men so useless. To be safe from coming against her again would be huge. It would probably be worth losing a member who was halfway out the door already. It was hardly a choice. “I’ll do it.” And Wanda could let her touch. Maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe she’d make it awkward and awful but… maybe it was her only chance to have something, anything beyond words, with another human being. “I’ll do it,” she repeated, but Wanda was already leading her away.
Wanda made a large cash withdrawal. Rogue made a call to Xavier’s to tell him not to look for her, that she didn’t need saving. And then they made use of all kinds of transportation, human-run and mutant only, until there was no chance of a ‘chance’ encounter with anyone either of them had ever known.