Disclaimer : I don't own X-Men

Note : this is part IV from my little series of X-Men one shots…

Beta : Sublime Angel was my beta for this oneshot and I can't thank her enough !

Last Encounter

Bobby walked through the forest, looking around for any sign of mutants in his neighborhood. He felt the fear creep up on him as he heard the rustling of the leaves through the wind.

Bobby told his mind to calm down, knowing that it was probably nothing. His thoughts were on Rogue, and how she was doing.

"What are you doing here?"

Bobby turned around abruptly only to see Rogue standing in front of him with a furious glance on her face. She glared at him. Bobby tried to say something but he tripped over his words when he finally managed to utter an answer.

"I came to look for you," he softly whispered, "I've come to bring you home Rogue."

John came up from behind her, shocking Bobby with the way he had changed. All he remembered of John was a rebellious teenager, but the John he saw in front of him, was a terrorist. Someone who would kill for less. Bobby noticed the change in both of his former friends.

Rogue had clearly turned even darker than before, colouring her brown hair black, making the white stripes in her hair stand out even more as John had turned completely blond with a little brown mixed in between.

"What is he doing here?" John asked, snaking his arm around Rogue's waist, who didn't seem to mind as she leaned against his chest, her eyes staying on Bobby the entire time.

"I've come to bring her home John."

"Oh, this again! When will you X-Men learn that she made her choice and that you should respect that?"

Bobby took a deep breath and looked at John who slowly moved in front of Rogue, as if trying to protect her from him. Rogue looked over Pyro's shoulder, not saying anything. As she took a step back John conjured the fire to his hand.

"Leave Iceman…NOW!"

"Not without Rogue!" Bobby said

"Rogue is with me! Leave now Bobby, before you get in serious trouble!" John whispered towards the student of Xavier in a dangerous tone.

Iceman frowned a little and looked over Pyro's shoulder at Rogue.

"What are you going to do Pyro? Call the Brotherhood on me?"

"I can defeat you on my own Iceman, don't worry about that!" John smirked as Iceman clammed his fists, turning them into ice.

Rogue leaned against the tree behind her, looking at John with full confidence as he carefully shot the fire at Bobby. She felt the heat of the fire and the coolness of the ice on her skin as she stood only a couple of feet away from the encounter of elements. Her brown eyes looked from John to Bobby and back again.

"Stop this! Both of you!" she suddenly yelled.

In her mind, Rogue didn't know what she was doing but it felt like it was the right thing to do. Pyro frowned at Rogue and stopped his attack, nodding to her as he slowly walked towards her and held her in his arms.

Rogue smiled a little as he whispered something in her ear before she turned to Bobby.

"I made my choice Bobby. And if you don't accept that, that's fine by me! But you'll have to face it one day."

Marie turned around, letting Pyro's arm around her waist lead her away from Iceman as they walked back into the forest.

Bobby glared at the retreating form of Pyro as he walked away with Rogue without a single look back at him. He didn't want to accept Rogue's choice, because his heart knew that she wasn't like them. She wasn't the fighting type.

X

"What happened?" Magneto asked patiently as Pyro entered the room with Rogue following close behind. The leader looked at Marie for a brief second, taking in how much she had changed since she first came to his office.

She had forgiven him for the white stripes, telling him how much she actually liked them in the first place. Rogue had grown confident and her fighting skills, even if she was still a little afraid of her power, were exceptional. Pyro glared a little at no one in particular as he answered the question.

"We ran into someone familiar…"

Magneto leaned back in his chair and held his fingers to his lips, a habit he was used to doing when he was thinking. Rogue held John's hand in hers, like she was trying to calm him down a little bit as Pyro felt the anger surge through him.

"It was a good distance away from the base. But I'm not sure how much he knows of the location." Rogue said, finally turning her eyes away from the wall behind Magneto and actually facing him for the first time. Magneto sighed a little and nodded, knowing that they weren't in immediate danger.

"Keep a weather eye open," he suggested before the two teenagers left the room, Rogue's cape following her on a soft wind as she ran up the stairs. Magneto managed a small smile at his two protégés before he ran his fingers through his silver hair and turned back to the other things on his planning.

X

"Bobby won't give up that easily John, you know that better than I do..."

"Why did you stop us anyway?" Pyro asked as he lay beside her on the double bed, placing a little with her newly dyed black hair.

"You would've drawn too much attention if you accidentally burnt something severely and caused a larger fire!"

John frowned a little but nodded, agreeing with her as she had a valid point. Rogue's mind was racing as a thousand different thoughts plagued her. The young girl sighed a little and thought about what happened today.

She knew that Bobby wouldn't give up on trying to turn her back. But she didn't want to betray John even if he managed to convince her in the end. John frowned a little at her sigh and looked up at her.

Rogue managed a small smile as she saw John's worried face next to hers. Marie turned her head to him and started fiddling with some of the buttons of his jacket. Pyro looked concentrated at her, like he was trying to read her mind.

"Bobby won't give up John," Rogue said in a small and perhaps trembling, voice. John didn't respond in words but pulled the girl closer to him as she listened to his heartbeat, trying to calm down.

"I know, but still..." John's voice trailed away as he looked at Rogue. Marie avoided all eye contact with him as she looked at the other side of the room.

"This is your choice Rogue." he said while holding her hand, not forcing her to look at him as she kept her eyes away from him.

"I know John...But I don't know what to do!" Rogue whispered, turning her head back to him but keeping her eyes on the blanket. Pyro smiled and tucked some of her white hair behind her ear.

"Just make sure it's what you want…" Rogue sighed deeply at his response and nodded. Pyro smiled once more and gave her a peck on the lips.

X

"We can't force her to stay here. You know that!"

"So she's doubting her choice? Tell me Pyro," Magneto said "If Rogue eventually does go back will you follow her?"

"I made my choice without her. But I wouldn't go back there and you know it!" John said confidently.

Magneto nodded, knowing that the boy was still troubled with bad memories.

"What if I told you to?"

"What are you implying?" John asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Follow Rogue. Overcome your demons and perhaps...infiltrate…"

Pyro frowned, not knowing for sure if he wanted to face the memories of Rogue rejecting him, seeing Rogue with Bobby or being misunderstood by everyone who knew him there.

John admitted to himself, he didn't want to face his inner demons that lingered within him. Magneto raised his eyebrows at the young boy and nodded, smiling as John finally gave in.

X

"You really didn't think, for one second, that I wouldn't have followed you, did you?"

Rogue looked up from Storm's face and looked at John standing in the door frame, leaning against it with his arms crossed in front of him.

Marie smiled as John walked into the room and greeted Storm as he came up behind Rogue, sneaking his warm arms around her waist. Storm might've never looked as happy or as worried at the same time as when she saw the two teens getting used to the idea that they were back in the mansion after all.

Giving them some last directions for the upcoming training for the X-Men, Storm left them alone and hoped they would cope with all the judgment that went through the school as of these days.

X

"It feels...strange…" John said, answering her question as he lay on the bed with Rogue's head on his chest and his arm over her shoulders. Rogue nodded a little and smiled as sheslowly closed her eyes .

"But it feels right!" John said before Rogue drifted off to sleep. Pyro smiled and gave Rogue a kiss on the top of her head before he closed his eyes again, never releasing Marie from his grasp.

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