A Witch and a Rouge

[Deleted]

Wanda nodded when Anna said fear thats how it started, now it was when she was the most tired that her mutation devolved back into pushing evil outcomes. Her frown changed as Anna described her dream at last, Wild..free.. to have someone be her partner....yes Wanda could very much see where she was coming from.

 It was so close to what Wanda herself had wanted, except for her it had been a home, a family, a father that loved and accepted her, a husband that wanted her. A place she could help others like her, once...once she had been so close to that goal, once she had been happy. Before I knew I was his daughter Finding out she was Magneto's child had ruined everything, the need to be accepted by him, to be part of his world. To have him proud of her....it drove her to throw away everything else, to try and straddle two worlds, where she helped both sides but didn't fall under his sway completely. 


And it didn't matter, to Erik if you were not with him 100% then you were against him. So she walked through the world alone, touching lives here and there, but not becoming a permanent part of anyones life. 




"What was your mutation?" she asked quietly looking her in the eyes. 

[eloquentnovelist]

Anna almost felt like Wanda knew what her mutation was. The way she took her hand and stroked the back of it with her fingers... 

Touch was still an odd sensation to Anna. She just wasn't use to it yet. And when she did touch someone she wanted to, Anna relished it. And most of all, she did not take lightly to those men at the bar touching her whenever they damn well pleased. But all she could do was shrug them off when she really wanted to knock their lights out. Touch was a beautiful thing. To waste it by groping away at your server was a sin. But hell, what could she say without exposing herself? Sometimes in life, ya just had to take the good with the bad.

Hand contact like this was so intimate. Intimate enough that Wanda was getting close to the scar on her palm. It made Anna nervous. For a woman who was able to touch again, she still seemed like she just wasn't use to it yet. There was plenty of time to get adjusted. Anna was in no rush. There wasn't exactly anyone who sparked her interest in learning. Even if there was, there was plenty she had to do before she could even think about anyone else.

"Absorption. Any skin to skin contact and ah would absorb memories, life energy, and even abilities. It was such a pain in the ass. Then ah took the cure. Now here ah am."

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Oh the poor girl... Wanda's heart went out even more to Anna. "So you choose the cure." she said a small smile on her face, it was good to see it helping someone, the smile dropped off her face, Oh no...she must not know. Wanda probed carefully with her powers, wondering how close to breaking the serum was. She breathed out slowly Good its fresh, she should have a few months at least...I can push that out...but I have to tell her first.  

The last thing she wanted to do was take this girl's hope away, "Have you been...enjoying your time being able to touch?" she asked running a finger over the burn scar. Wanda hoped so, other wise..it would be even sadder when it the cure ran out. 

[eloquentnovelist]

Anna watched her, face completely stoic when she was asked if she took it willingly. "Yes. And ah know taking the cure isn't a popular choice but it was mah choice." Touch was a gift. It wasn't about being able to have a relationship with Bobby. It was about being able to touch people, be close with people like Logan and Bobby and Jubilee. People like Piotr, and Charles when he was alive. She had never touched him once and now, she never would. Just like Jean.

It wasn't hard to notice the smile fade from Wanda's lips. Anna withdrew her hands. Was Wanda one of those mutants who loathed the idea of a cure? Erik would have shunned her just like Pyro did for taking the cute voluntarily. Their mutations didn't keep them from having relationships or getting close to friends and family. It was clear that Anna was nervous now. The last time she tangoed with a mutant, she was scarred. This time, she might not have been so lucky. "Ah know it seems shallow but ya have no idea how hard it is... And maybe ah did give up a part of mahself, the only part of mahself that was special but ah don't regret that. Ah am me again. With this mutation, ah was someone else. Ah couldn't be her anymore."

Anna withdrew her hands into her lap. "Ah haven't really tried much. Ah just got settled out here. But it's still new to me. Ah'm not in a rush though. Got the rest of mah life to make this feel normal." Slow and steady, it always won the race.

[Deleted]

Wanda tried to chase her hands as Anna hid them, her frown grew deeper as the girl defended her choice, she was already shaking her head before Anna stopped talking. Wanda moved her chair over enough to place a hand on Anna's cheek, eyes soft. "Not the only special part of yourself." she said strongly, "Or you wouldn't have come to my rescue." Wanda couldn't keep the deep sadness from her eyes though, she hated the news she would bring this girl. "Mutation doesn't make the person." As she tried to argue with her Father over and over. "All it is is a tool, or a burden." Wanda stroked her thumb over Anna's cheek bone using the contact to probe deeper into the cure. Feeling the bonds it held over the mutation. 

Can I make this forever? she had never tried anything like it. Altering realty to that extent. ...The rest of her life...god how do I tell her? How can I take this hope from her? "Was there no hope of controlling it?" she asked carefully. If there was, if she could help train the girl...after all she had learned from both Charles AND Erik in how to help mutants with out of control powers. Her mutation was useful in that respect, upping the odds of letting them have control, and when it did break, to make it the most harmless outcome. 

[eloquentnovelist]

"Doing the right thing shouldn't be special. It should just be. Are we really in a world so tainted and dark that standing up for someone is considered special?" It wasn't something special. It was just how she was. Anna followed her heart, always and forever. To not listen to her heart was a sin, wrong, and unnatural. She could never ignore that voice. Ever. Even if it put her in danger. That's how she came to face Pyro in the alley that one fateful afternoon. She thought she would have learned her lesson there. But here she was, heart strong as ever and still following that stubborn organ. 

"Without it, Ah'm not Rogue. With my mutation, Ah'm not Anna. There's no in between, no place for them to coexist." The woman moved to sit by her and Anna flinched at being touched. It was still hard to get use to, someone wanting to touch her. Even though she had been coveted at the bar, Anna couldn't even begin to think of herself as touchable, desirable. 

This woman was really curious about her mutation. It didn't matter. She was free of it now and forever. "Oh ah tried everything. There was no control to be had. But it's all over now. And here ah am, a completely new person with the rest of mah life ahead of me."  Anna smiled. There was nothing to fear anymore. She knew everything would be okay now.

[Deleted]

Wanda flinched at the naked hope and peace in the girls expression.
Oh god, I dont want to strip her hope away. "I was trained by two very strong mutants...they both had differnt ways of training perhaps." The girl would have no clue why Wanda was so interested in her. The guilt Wanda felt now..

"Sweetie." she knew how badly this would hurt. "Why don't you come home with me tonight." She chickened out, she couldn't deliver this kind of news in a bloody bakery! And at least at home she could contain Anna if she lashed out, or if she seemed self destructive. Wanda didn't think about how the offer sounded, she was too concerned about the future for this girl. How to make sure she didn't loose that hopeful, bright light. 

[eloquentnovelist]

Anna quirked a brow. Why was Wanda talking about training? Why would she want to start any training? Anna was already well trained in hand to hand combat. What reason was there to further that? "Ah'm sorry, ah don't follow..." It was getting a little late. Maybe the night was ready to draw to a close. 

Anna blinked. Oh my, how strange...

She blushed a bit. "Ah'm real flattered but ah just don't swing that way... Actually, Ah'm not sure if ah swing that way or not, ah've never tried. Maybe with a few drinks... But ah mean... Well ah... Erm... This got awkward really quickly. Ah'm not ready to start some sort of romantic journey. Ah'm still settling into mahself, so please don't be offended." 

Anna watched Wanda, hoping she hadn't been offended by her response. "But ah would certainly enjoy your company again for tea sometime again." 

[Deleted]

Wait what? Don't be offended? It took Wanda a depressing amount of time to figure out what Rogue was saying. Or rather what Rogue thought Wanda was saying. She had to chuckle. "No dear, as lovely as you are...I also do not 'swing' that way except for very special occasions. " 

Wanda was still smiling as August brought the check "I have something I need to tell you." she added more seriously as she paid. "In private." she finished. Giving the man a generous tip in exchange for a bag of pastries for breakfast. Wanda still hardly knew how to cook, the little she had done for Xavier was a lifetime ago, and yet another reminder of things she would never have. 

Things she was determined that this bright girl would have a chance to experience. A half smile on her lips, even if she would have to 'swing' that way again to show them to her, herself. And if there was nothing that could be done to slow or halt the regression of the 'cure'...well Wanda had made it her mission now to give this girl the most life to live in the next six months that she could grant. And with Wanda's resources...that was alot. 

"Please." she said softly gesturing at the door. 

[eloquentnovelist]

The more sleep deprived Anna became, the easier she was to manipulate. Not that Wanda was manipulating. She simply put the idea to go to her place in Anna's head. And eventually, Anna followed along.

Whatever Wanda wanted to talk about seemed important, much too dire to talk about in a public bakery. Maybe she was going to ask to be room mates. The idea sounded nice. Her apartment was technically a home but it was still so empty. It was wood floors, a couch, a mattress, and string lights instead of lamps.

Anna allowed herself into Wanda's home once invited in and she took a seat, biting back a yawn. "Ah have to admit, ya really are piquing my interest now. The anticipation is killing me now."

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Wanda wished she had happy news for the girl, her apartment was in one of the upper class neighborhoods, in a door man building. Wanda tossed her jacket on the sofa, soft music Arabic music playing automatically as she entered. Her three bed room flat was clearly inspired from her childhood home, cut wood panels divvied up the main living room, warm jewel toned throw pillows and swaths of fabric draped the room. Making it feel like a part of another world. 

The air smelled faintly of sandalwood and vanilla. Wanda gestured for Anna to make herself comfortable, "I don't...I hate to say this." She said quietly sitting down next to Anna. "The cure...its not permanent." she watched her carefully, expecting denial. For the girl to lash out, for depression. "I have seen it start to fail already." 

[eloquentnovelist]

The words stuck Anna. Shaking off her exhaustion, she blinked and took a deep breath. "Sorry, ah just fell asleep with mah eyes open and ah had like, a mini nightmare." The idea that the cure wasn't permanent was a nightmare, she didn't even want to think about it any further.

But this was no dream. Wanda went on about the cure being faulty. But... It had worked. For herself, for mutants all around the county, people were wiped from the X-Gene... The gift of life was going to be taken away from her and it made her breath lodge in her throat. Anna felt her heart splitting into pieces, enough that her hand pressed onto her heart like she could stop it from fragmenting further.

For a bit, she had trouble breathing and no breath came in or out. And when breath finally did come, her chest felt like it was two sizes too small. "No..." Her pleading was barely a whisper, for it was all the air she could produce at that moment.

"Anything but that... " She could already feel the gloves coming back over her hands and taking here life again... Anna's days were numbered. How long left did she have to live? The thought quickly made her cover her face with her hands before she let out broken sobs of anguish.

[Deleted]

Wanda watched the denial, the anger and at last the heart breaking despair. Wanda pulled Anna into her arms as the girl started to sob. "Suusssh, sweetie, oh sweetie. Im so sorry." She rocked the taller girl her heart went out to her. 

"Its not the end of the world, I'll help you, any way you need." she pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I'll use my power to tweek the odds for you ok?" she was trying to offer any hope she could. "There are ways of doing things, you've never seen me work. I can somewhat suppress most powers." she kept rocking Anna.

"You are not alone." she said quietly, this was one reason she kept going year after lonely year, being able to help these poor unaligned mutants. The ones that nether faction had adopted, the girls that needed help, this was what she lived for. To be useful. 

[eloquentnovelist]

Anna felt Wanda put arms around her and it did nothing to shake that awful void in her heart and stomach. It was just a reminder of what she was going to lose. "It can't be true..." Anna shook her head. She just couldn't accept it. She wouldn't. The cure worked once, it could work again with more injections. But it was a miracle she even got the injection the first time. Erik's fear of needles had gotten her riled during the vaccination process. It didn't matter. Anna, Rogue, Marie, would walk through the fires of hell to keep touch in her life.

All that time she had spent wasting getting adjusted to a new life, a new home, it was all a waste. She was a dead woman walking and she hadn't even had a single kiss since she left the mansion and left Bobby. She was being so selfish, she almost forget what that meant for other mutants, for the X-Men. She needed to get in touch with them. If the cure didn't work, then Magneto would be back... They needed to be informed otherwise, he would get the upper hand on them.

Anna wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up straight. Every touch she took, every touch that was given to her, she would cherish it. They would be her last meal before another prison sentence alone.

The young woman pulled away from Wanda and stood up. "Ah need to be alone. Ah need to go." Her days were numbered. All this time, Anna had been living the dream of walking around her own apartment wearing next to nothing and not worrying about anyone seeing her or touching her. She just just gotten comfortable with her own image, building a self confidence. Soon, she would go back and be shrouded, covered and hidden from the world... It meant she would have to go back to the mansion... It meant facing all those looks of pity. "How long? How long do ah have? Ah took it six weeks ago." Anna held her breath. She internally beggedr it to not be weeks or months... Please be a year. Please...

[Deleted]

Wanda stood with her, "Please don't go." She hardly knew the girl but she was still scared of how she would react being on her own again. Alone, yes Wanda was a stranger but she hoped Anna at least trusted her a little Even though you just killed her hope. 


"Listen  to me." she ordered taking Anna's hands again, "We can fix this, I can help. I'm a doctor." And she had done her own research on the cure, she was still missing some data but she had a good idea. Wanda searched Anna's eyes "Don't let this beat you, don't let your self despair." she rubbed the girls hands between her's "It differs for everyone, some mutations seem to fight agaist it harder then others." She wasn't going to say that she knew a mutant that was already regaining his powers less then three months after taking it. "But probably between six months and a year. Maybe more." Maybe less. 

She placed her hands on Anna's cheeks, looking her right in the eyes, "But if you agree i'll be here to help you hold it off." 

[eloquentnovelist]

Wanda came after her, holding her hands and the act simply upset Anna more. "Please let me go. Ah NEED to be alone right now." She had to scream, she had to throw something, hold herself, do something to get herself to calm down. Anna hardly ever cried and when she did, it was never in front of people unless it was Logan. 

She he needed time to figure this out, hash out a plan of attack. Maybe she could get more of the vaccine. P what if it wasn't available? Should she just start packing up her things and head back to New York? If it was coming back, why fight it? Wouldn't it be worse? But she was a fighter at heart. There was no doubt of the fight in her. At the moment, making decisions was a bad idea. She was far too rash to make any long term choices. 

"Ah'll come back tomorrow or whenever is convenient for you, but right now, ah really have to go. Ah'm tired and Ah'm afraid, and angry. Ah just need to be. Please."

[Deleted]

Wanda let her go seeing how her touch distressed Anna, she only wanted to help, hoping to give the girl some comfort. She hated seeing her so upset.  "Alright." she dropped her hands, leading Anna to the door. "Here is my number..or just stop by. Anytime" the card had her name and address printed as well as clearly being a keycard for her apartment. 

Wanda had little fear of being robbed, her things were valuable yes, but with her mutation money had stopped being a concern decades ago. The only things she valued truly were the few keepsakes(a keychain, a few pictures, a yellowed scrap of paper) and they were not obviously important. 

She let Anna go giving her a head start before slipping out after her. She followed the girl mostly to be sure she was safe in her distracted state of mind.