Rogue: Annihilation (An Avengers Sequel)

3. Strange

Six Months Later

"Okay, I'm officially over this," I moaned, gesturing to the ankle monitor. Stark and I were sitting on a park bench, just inside my two mile radius. The park next to the Avengers Compound was the only freedom I'd had in half a year, and I was going completely stir-crazy.

"You wanted this," Stark reminded me, leaning back and closing his eyes, allowing the sun to shine on his face. "It was your idea, remember?"

I crossed my arms, like a defiant child. "I wanted to keep everybody safe," I said, tapping the bracelet with the nail of my index finger and enjoying the metallic sound it made. "This wasn't part of the original plan."

"Was working for Ross and his goons part of the 'original plan'?" he asked, looking over at me with one eye open.

I sighed. "The original plan was to find Steve and get him out of there unscathed. Everything after that just... happened."

"And now Steve's off in God-knows-where, doing whatever with God-knows-who, and you're-"

"Trapped," I finished for him. "In the Compound. With you."

He shrugged playfully. "Well I could always leave, if you want? Monaco is beautiful this time of year."

I giggled, hitting his arm. To be completely honest, the house arrest wasn't as bad as it could have been. I had the run of the Compound with everyone else scattered around the world, I had endless time to train and practise using my powers, and I had great company. What more could a girl want?

"Monaco," I said under my breath, shaking my head as my imagination ran wild. "You know, before I met you, I didn't even know that it existed? There are so many beautiful places all over the world that I'll probably never get a chance to see."

"What do you mean?" Stark asked, frowning at me. "When your house arrest is over, I'll take you wherever you want to go."

"Over?" I asked, throwing in a laugh for good measure. "Ross has me right where he wants me. Trust me, Tony, I'm never losing this thing." I knocked the bracelet against the leg of the bench, harder than I'd intended, but the government's tracking device stayed completely intact.

Stark's eyes widened, clearly mocking me. "Is this what happens when Rogue gives up?"

"I'm not giving up!" I insisted, looking up at the sun. How was it possible to feel free and trapped at the same time? "I'm just..." Trying and failing to come up with a better phrase, I sighed, resting my head on the bench and closing my eyes. "Giving up."

"So after everything we – the team – have been through, the thing that broke you was an ankle monitor?"

"No, it's not about the house arrest," I said, raising my head slowly to look at him. "Before this, no matter what happened, we always had each other. Even when you and Steve were fighting and the team were on two sides, we still had each other. We always had someone, a lot of someones, that we could count on. And now... there's nothing. We have no idea where anyone is, or what they're doing, or if they're even alive." I was constantly worried that Ross knew about our lack of leverage, that one phone call was all he needed to trace them. Just because we made a deal, didn't mean he would keep his promise. He could have them taken out and I wouldn't even know it.

"There's a part of me that's wishing for some huge catastrophe to take over the world, just so we'd have an excuse to see everyone again," I confessed.

Stark laughed. "You want the world to be under threat so you can tell your friends that you miss them?"

"Well, I'm sorry that 'I miss you' isn't a good enough reason for everyone to risk coming back to New York. It's just... I was alone for so long, and then it was just me and Nat." My fingers lightly touched the arrow necklace when I said her name. "We found a family in you guys, y'know? But everything got screwed up before we had time to enjoy it."