Free X-Men: Dark Mirror by Marjorie M. Liu

desk. They bounced; one of them hit Rogue's chest.
    "This amuses you, doesn't it?" He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands palm down on the desk.
    "No," Rogue protested, but he shook his head.
    "I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth. I am transferring you to the mental health ward at the women's correctional facility. You should have been sent there a long time ago, but Dr. Maguire insisted that you remain under his care."
    "You must have had a good reason for listening,"
    Rogue said, watching his expression harden. She had nothing left to lose; she did not care that her accent crept in. Even if she sounded nothing like Jane, the man in front of her would never imagine the truth.
    "Dr. Maguire is highly respected," Mr. Beckett said slowly. "Very."
    "So he used his influence to bully you," Rogue said.
    Beckett's face flushed an even deeper red. "The nurses will take you back to the quiet room now. If nothing else, you can spend more time with your... therapy mate, before you leave."
    "That's very kind of you," Rogue said, thinking, You stinky little weasel.
    "I thought so," he said, and gestured at the door.
    Logan was propped up against the wall when Rogue returned. He grinned and said to the nurses, "You guys planning on feeding us? I could use some grub."
    "Shut up," said the man. "I'm not getting close enough to those teeth to feed you. Chew on each other if you get that hungry."
    "Heh," said the other, leering. "I'd like to see that."
    "I bet," Logan said. The nurses left, laughing. Rogue gave him a dirty look and slid down the wall, rubbing up against his shoulder.
    "They're sending me to prison," she told him. "I'm going to be jail bait."
    "I always knew it would happen. You're such a rough rider. Always asking for trouble."
    "Well, I got it in spades. I just hope the others can find a way out of here before they take me away. Otherwise,
    I'll be sitting behind bars until you guys figure how to switch me back into my real body."
    "Good vacation. Lots of time for self-reflection."
    "Make new friends?"
    "Prison friends are the best kind."
    "They got your back?"
    "Sometimes literally."
    Rogue laughed. Logan nudged her with his shoulder. "See? It'll be okay, darlin'. Remember that time we were in Genosha together? No powers then, either, and they strung us up like a couple sides of meat. Worked out okay, though."
    "Yeah." She remembered the terror of waking up naked and alone in a small cement cell. That had been infinitely worse than this. Here, at least, there were rules. In that other place, all she'd had was the tender mercy of soldiers—and they weren't all that merciful. Then, as with now, not having access to her mutant abilities felt more like punishment than a gift, and she wondered if that was not the way it would always be. If perhaps that wasn't what she preferred.
    Of course, continuing to think like that was just a waste of energy when she had far more pressing matters at hand. Like not going to jail and being separated from her friends.
    Somewhere distant Rogue heard a man scream, and she thought, I'm right with you.
    Rogue listened a little longer, but the sound was too heartrending, broken. Trying to distract herself, she said, "How are we going to get out of here, Logan?"
    "Easy," he said, his voice low, gruff. "We're going to
    run."
    "And how do you know that?"
    He smiled and pointed with his chin at the door. "Because there's our ticket out."
    And Rogue looked and saw Kurt peering through the observation glass, and thought that Logan might be on to something.
    Kurt, knowing himself to be a natural charmer and quick-escape artist of fabulous ability, was quite accustomed to entering—on purpose—situations that some might consider volatile and dangerous. Whether it was the high trapeze or a bloody brawl with the Friends of Humanity, he was always ready to meet difficulty with a smile. Easy as a breeze, for a man with a light heart.
    Until now. Kurt still smiled—even as he and