Tears in the Rain (X-Men ROMY)

Chapter Seven

After that it was a free for all. People burst balloons in her vicinity, jumped out of doorways at her, hid fake spiders in her cereal, and generally made her life a living hell for a while. Thankfully, when Storm finally ordered the pranks to stop as Rogue didn't need them any longer, they stopped. Well, Bobby did put a toy tarantula in her bed, but after getting a week of extra danger room sessions, he didn't try anything else.

Now the only time that she couldn't control her powers was in bed, and while they were always turned off at night, each morning when she woke up, her skin would feel tight and stretched, a sure sign that her power was active again.

'X-men, please report to the war room,' Rogue heard Betsy's voice in her head and headed down to the basement. Shortly after she arrived, the room was full, save for Logan who was still off wandering.

"I have some odd news," Storm said, clearly upset about something.

"Odd?" asked Bobby.

"I don't know what else to call it," Storm confessed, then took a deep breath. "Betsy was experimenting with cerebra this morning and believes that she made contact with Professor Xavier."

The collective gasps around the table showed that Storm wasn't the only one who didn't know how to handle this news.

"On the astral plane?" Remy asked.

"Oh no, if it was him, he's on this plane, and very much alive." Betsy said.

"What makes you say 'if'" Rogue asked. Betsy wasn't a powerful telepath and so she had only had limited success using cerebro before now. She wasn't offended by the question.

"I don't claim to know the professor like you all do, indeed I only met him once, but the man that I knew wasn't insane."

"The professor is insane?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know." Betsy rubbed her temples. "I'm still getting used to Cerebro, but the mind I encountered definitely believed that it was Charles Xavier and was definitely... off."

"As in crazy?" Kitty wanted conformation.

"I'm not a psychiatrist but yes; unstable at best, insane at worst."

"Is he a telepath?" Pete asked.

"Oh yes. He tried..."

"Tried what?" Rogue urged.

"Tried to kill her," Storm finished for Betsy.

Another round of gasps circled the table.

"He tried to follow the mental link I'd made back to me, but without the powers of cerebro he was unable to."

"And you're sure he wanted to kill you?" Remy checked.

"Absolutely."

No one knew what to say to that.

"We know his location," Storm said after a few minutes. "He's on Muir Island."

"We have to go get him!" Kitty said, standing.

"Not so fast," Storm said firmly. "Whether or not this is the professor, he's clearly dangerous. We need to think this one through."

"I'll go," Gambit volunteered. "Psychics can't get into my head, unless I want them to."

"That's what I was thinking," Storm agreed. "Plus we'll need Betsy. She's not as strong as the professor but she's been working on her mental shields, and she's the only one who stands a chance of being able to help him. Because of that disparity in power, I'm not certain that we will be able to help him while he's conscious, which means Rogue needs to go too. You can incapacitate him without hurting him, plus you already have strong shields to prevent telepathic intrusion but if that isn't enough, you can borrow Remy's powers, which will offer you even greater protection."