Rogue had been gone for three days. At first Toby thought she was in a meditative spell and just wanted to be alone for a while. But when she didn't turn up at her dorm he got worried. She was the only person he really cared about in his life, the only person he had ever cared about. The Professor was the one who was really worried. What made it worse was that he couldn't find Rogue's powers anywhere. She had disappeared off the face of the earth and hadn't even left with a suitcase. Toby paced in his room, the curtains drawn shut and the walls covered in posters. A towel was even pressed under the door to keep light out. Toby kicked over CD cases and soda cans in his frustration. He stopped suddenly and ground his teeth together. His eyes were pressed shut and tears began to flow from them. She was the only who had ever cared! He punched his fist into the wall, leaving a large hole in the sheetrock and plaster. He punched again, harder, and kept on punching the wall until his fist began to swell and bleed. Blood flowed freely from the cuts on his hand, but he didn't mind. His eyes were still full of tears as he ran from the room. He walked outside into the bright light and could feel the heat through his layers of clothing. He stepped into a grass clearing and stared at the sun. He felt his eyes begin to water and close, because of the pain that had engrossed him. It was physical and emotional, it was life and death. Without her, he thought, he was dead.
Toby threw his sunglasses on the ground and stared directly at the sun. His eyes began to burn, but he didn't care. He ripped his jacket and shirt off and stood bare chested against the demon of light. He felt the light burn his skin, leaving deep red streaks across his body. The pain was so intense he fell to his knees and arched his back, thrusting his burning body closer at the sun.
"ROGUE!" he screamed. The pain was so unbearable he collapsed on the ground. His skin was already bright red and turning deeper shades as it burned in the bright summer light. Toby's screams echoed throughout the courtyard of the Institute. He was a whimpering mess, mumbling to himself as tears streamed from his face. "Rogue. . .where are you?" he said, his last words before he lost consciousness.
"Is he gonna be all right, Beast?" Kitty was standing over the infirmary bed where Toby lay, unconscious. The big blue beast was dressed in a lab coat and checking the monitors.
"Looks good so far, Kitty. He has extensive burns on over 40% of his body, but nothing too serious. He'll be out for about a week if we can keep him sedated and nourished." Beast rubbed burn ointment over Toby's body and began applying bandages. Toby's head and eyes were wrapped in ointment-soaked gauze, his burned chest applied to the same way.
"Why did he do it? He knows the sun burns him like that. It doesn't make any sense." Kitty couldn't possibly comprehend the pain Toby was feeling, in his body or in his heart.
"I don't know," said Beast, "but I'll bet it has something to do with Rogue's disappearance." With that the two left Toby to rest. The soft closing of the door awakened him, and Toby tried to sit up. He grunted as his chest burned with new intensity and he slowly laid himself back down. The bandages over his face blocked him from seeing anything, and he wondered where he was. His eyes tried to adjust and he could make out a distant and low beeping sound every few seconds. He recognized it as an EKG. The beeping reminded him of the way Rogue's boots sounded on a waxed wood floor. Light and soft, but at the same moment hard and full of life and intensity. Beneath his bandaged eyes tears began to swell. He felt a need to release his pain, a need to cut himself like he used to do before he met Rogue. His mind swam in black chaos and he cried himself back to sleep.
Toby awoke to the sound of the Professor's voice in the infirmary. He strained through the bandages to understand, and could just barely hear.
A-serious crisis for us. Rogue has gone missing, Tobias is in the infirmary. This is too much to be a coincidence. . .-want Logan, Scott and Jean to take the X-Jet and start searching for Rogue's power signature around the area. . .- haven't been able to track it. . .-some strange force behind it all. Ah, it seems as though Tobias is awake. How are you feeling?" Toby could hear the Professor's voice directed at his bandaged head. He struggled to speak, but couldn't force words out of his mouth. The Professor nodded anyway. "Tobias, you know you can't go. Your body has sustained too much damage. You need to rest and let us find Rogue."
"Yeah, kid, get a hold of yourself. You need to just lay back and take it easy. We'll find Roguey," Logan spoke up. He led the rest of the team out of Toby's room. Only Kitty stayed. She brushed her hair out of her face and gave Toby's wrapped forehead a gentle kiss.
"Take it easy, Toby. Rogue's all right. We'll find her all right." Toby's mind sank slowly back into darkness.
Rogue's brain snapped hard awake. She let out a slight gasp as her mind shifted from sleep to apprehension. A breathing apparatus was placed around her mouth, allowing her to breathe as her body was suspended in a strange green liquid. She braced her back against the capsule and kicked as hard as she could. It took her several tries and she was exhausted by the time a crack appeared in the glass. She set her legs against the rear of the capsule and lunged with all her might at the crack. The glass prison ruptured, spilling Rogue and the green liquid onto a cold, metal floor. She ripped the breathing mask from her face and gasped for real air. Her body shivered, dressed only in a small, black, skintight suit. She curled into a ball and shivered to stay warm. She noticed something on her arm, a string of black stenciled numbers. They read, A1369.@ Rogue panicked and rubbed her arm vigorously to try and scrub the numbers off. It was to no avail. She stopped and started looking at her surroundings. The walls were lined with tubes just like the one she had been in. Each contained another human form, dressed in the same black jumpsuit and with stenciled numbers on their left arms. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all gunmetal gray, cold and lifeless. Rogue's wet hair clung to her head as she scampered across the floor to the large door. It opened as she neared, revealing a huge open room. It seemed to stretch on for miles, with doors like the one she had exited from lining every wall from floor to ceiling. She was so cold, her lips quivering and her body shaking uncontrollably. She saw a row of lockers and opened them all up, finding a wool blanket in one and some wool socks in another. She covered her body and set out to find where her possessions were. She glanced up and saw a huge windowed room at the top of the expanse's far side. The windows were lifeless and black, and a voice from nowhere seemed to answer her thoughts. "Impressive, isn't it? Welcome, Number 1369, to Hangar 84. But I like to call it Black Mesa." The voice boomed throughout the huge room. Rogue shook with each powerful syllable. She looked around for a weapon, for something to protect herself with. She glared up at the big black windows.
"Who are yah and what do yah want with me?" She waited for an answer. The ominous voice only laughed. "My dear Rogue, you are home. You are finally home. I. . . I am your father. And these . . . are your brothers and sisters." Rogue's jaw dropped as the doors opened all along the giant room. Hundreds of people, dressed like her, marched out of the rooms and stood at attention all along the walls. Each had a stamped number and each was dripping the same green fluid. They all turned to stare at her and began to chant.
"Sister. . .sister. . .sister. . ." She held her hands to her ears to try and block the sound. It felt as though her mind was being flooded and she could no longer hold on to herself. She collapsed on the ground, exhausted. She panted and curled into a ball, tears flowing from her eyes. A huge holographic screen, easily one hundred yards across, appeared in the middle of the big room. There was the face of the man in the suit.
"Welcome home, my dear." Rogue's family began to walk slowly toward her, evil smiles plastered on all their faces. She stood up to face them.
"Back off, or ah'll-" her warning was cut short by the voice's interruption.
"Or you'll use your powers? I think you may find I know quite a bit about you, daughter. Now, join us." The huge face on the screen laughed as the masses moved closer to Rogue. She glared up at the screen as tears rolled down her cheeks. She turned to the first person she saw, a young boy with white streaks in his hair, just like hers. "Join us," he said. He was answered by Rogue's fist slamming into his face. He reeled backwards into the crowd and was lost, leaving only a few drops of blood to prove the event had ever happened. She turned and faced a young girl who looked like her twin sister and kicked her in the stomach. Her clone doubled over in pain and Rogue turned to an older version of herself, in her mid-forties. Rogue reached with her bare hands and grasped the clone by the face. She felt the memories being sucked into her body and felt a new increase in power. Her body was a machine, moving like a streak. Her punches flew in every direction, her kicks were wide and hard. When she knocked one down five more would take its place. They eventually closed in around her and trapped her against them. She lifted her head and screamed at the top of her lungs, only to be smothered in the next instant. The huge voice laughed.
Logan led the X-Men down into the hangar. They all suited up and boarded the big jet. Kitty turned to Kurt. "Hey, I'll be back in second. I just need to talk to Toby real fast." Kurt was carrying a box of spare tools. "Okay, Kitty, but hurry back soon. Ve'll be vaiting for you." Kitty smiled at him and ran off out of the hangar. She ran past Scott and Jean, talking to one another, she ran past Ororo and Evan who were loading more gear into the jet. They all knew it could be a while before they could find Rogue. Kitty ran through the halls on the institute and passed Beast, hanging on a chin-up bar by his feet.
"Hi, Mr. McCoy. I just need to talk to Toby real quick." She hardly waited for an answer.
"Ok, Kitty, but I think he's sleeping now." Beast watched her run by and he knew that she really cared about both of them, Rogue and Toby. Kitty ran past him and his thoughts into the infirmary room. She slowly opened the door to Toby's room and went inside.
"Toby? I just wanted to tell you-" her voice fell on no one's ears. The bed was bare, a pile of used bandages the only form on it. Kitty screamed for help and Beast ran in.
"What is it, Kitty?" He looked at the bed and found out.
"What is he doing! He'll get hurt in his condition. Oh, Toby!" Kitty gasped. She and Beast ran out of the room, disregarding the shadow that hid underneath the bed. The shadow moved to the door and pressed against the wall into the form of a young man. He shaded himself from the sun and moved quickly. Tobias Maxwell traveled across the wall and went outside the Institute. He came out of the shadow in front of a bus stop a ways down the road. He didn't know why, but he needed to get to New Mexico.