Yay! Another chapter! I am aware that this one is being published a bit late tonight. It was a crazy day.

So... I have this chapter... and it's... different from the others. This one is another story building chapter, leading into another mission, blah blah blah. The next chapter is going to be good if I can get it to where I want it to be.

Anyway, hope everyone is having a good week! I will save my babbling until the end of the chapter!

~Zari

Chapter 21: Normal.

Rogue passed each of her finals, and had wanted to opt out of walking to get her diploma. Jean and the Professor had insisted that it was a once in a lifetime experience that she need to have. She wasn't excited about the upcoming ceremony the next week. She had convinced herself it would be over quickly.

Logan had been searching endlessly for the culprit behind the operation that Rogue and Remy had run into a few weeks before.

"I'm still runnin' into dead ends on who's behind all the mutant huntin'," Logan informed the X-Men, "but I found a lot more of this crap." He placed vials of clear liquid on the table in front of the group.

Rogue recognized it as the same liquid that was injected into her and her powers were inhibited for hours. It may have seemed frightening to the other mutants in the room, but to Rogue it almost seemed like her only hope at ever knowing what it feels like to touch another human being. In the back of her mind, she entertained the idea of grabbing all the liquid that they could find and storing it until she found someone that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She partially wanted to find whoever was behind this whole thing so she could discover how he had created this wonderf…uh, terrible thing.

Remy noticed her gaze on the vials.

Rogue noticed his looking at her, and turned her attention back to Logan. She wouldn't. She could wait. She could find another way to touch another person.

"Because this junk stops all mutant abilities, trainin'll have two parts from now on: honin' your mutant abilities and learnin' how ta fight without 'em," Logan informed them.

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement.

"I wish I could use Cerebro," Jean stated. "I might be able to track him down."

The Professor smiled kindly to her. "You will one day, Jean. But you're not ready yet."

Jean smiled sadly to him.

"Until then, we do things the old fashioned way," Logan said as he grabbed the vials up and put them in a box.

Henry took the box from him and adjusted his glasses. "I shall conduct a few simple tests to better understand how this was developed. It may give us a better idea of where to start looking."

Logan nodded to him. "Good."

Henry thought for a minute. "Would anyone be willing to allow me to run tests on them while they are under its effects?"

Rogue looked to Henry hopefully. To be able to feel normal for a few hours without being trapped in a cell with Remy and fearing for her life? Of course she would!

Logan nodded to him. "I'll do it. No reason ta scare the kids."

Rogue felt her heart sink into her chest with disappointment. So much for having a chance at feeling normal.

"I don't think that is a good idea. We don't know how long its effect is designed to last. If we should need you for battle, you won't have your abilities to assist you," Henry told him.

Logan scoffed. "Okay, then. Who do you think we can spare?"

Henry turned to Rogue. "If you don't mind, Rogue, I believe you are the best candidate."

Rogue wanted to smile widely and hug Henry out of excitement, but she wouldn't want anyone to think she actually wanted this. She nodded to Henry. "Sure."

Remy looked at Rogue and then looked away. He must have known what she was thinking about. Darn him!

()

Henry took out a syringe with a dose of the serum in it, and gently injected it into Rogue's arm vein. "Prepare for a small stick," he said. He carefully avoided her skin and used gloves to ensure he didn't fall prey to her power before injecting the serum.

Rogue felt as though she could walk on air. She knew what this stuff could do. She knew it would give her at least six hours of a normal life.

Henry placed a bandage over the needle wound and smiled to Rogue. "Well done. Let's give it a few minutes to circulate."

Rogue took off her gloves and looked down at her hands. Now that she had the serum flowing through her blood, her hands seemed perfectly natural to her. Usually they looked like weapons that she couldn't put down, like Logan's claws.

Henry began testing some of the serum in a small dish.

Rogue felt that the serum was wasted. She wondered if anyone would blame her for wishing to use it for her own personal use.

Henry turned to her and held his hand out. "Shall we put the serum to the test?"

Rogue lifted her hand and placed it into his hands. Her skin touched his fur and there was no reaction. She ensured it was working by touching his bare blue palm. Still nothing. It was perfect!

Henry smiled and pulled a pillow out and placed it on the medical table. "Relax here. I'll take a little blood, and you can return to your room for some rest."

Rogue nodded and allowed Henry to take some of her blood. She wondered if the blood being taken would shorten the effects of the serum. She hoped not. She wanted to have a clear understanding of how long the serum would work in her blood. She knew from the guard that she had absorbed that the serum was designed to last for eight hours, but hers hand worn off long before that when they had her in the cell. She needed to know what dose would work for the full eight hours. This would be a good test.

Henry put her blood vials into a holder and bandaged her vein. "Drink this slowly and you can return to your room for as long as you need."

Rogue smiled at him. "Thanks." He would never know that she was thanking him for her for hours of being normal. He probably just thought she was glad to be getting out of the afternoon training with Logan.

()

Rogue smiled as she looked through her closet. She could go out and not worry about who touched her, so she could wear whatever she wanted.

Before she could begin to enjoy her freedom from her power too much, she had another memory:

I watched as she dropped a sheet of her notes on the ground as she made her way through the bustling sea of high school students. This was my chance! I finally had an excuse to talk to her!

I rushed over and grabbed the paper. I could imagine it all in my mind. She would be so grateful, and she'd finally notice me. The captain of the football team; handsome and sweet enough to give her back the notes that she dropped. I would be her hero. She might even be willing to go out with me. It seemed as though everything was going to go exactly as I needed it to for her to finally notice that I exist.

As I neared her, all of my confidence faded. She was beautiful…but she was also intimidating. I was completely unworthy. I didn't deserve to pick her notes up from the filthy school hallway floor. I didn't deserve to give them back to her. Why would she even consider it as anything more than me being a stalker that followed her around and watched her drop the notes?

She stopped at her locker and went to open it. She turned and saw me standing foolishly in the middle of the hallway, looking at her as though she was a goddess fallen from the heavens. "Can Ah help you?" the lovely gothic girl said to me.

I stupidly held the paper out in front of me. "Paper…yours…was on the floor…" I dribbled out. Why couldn't I just speak?

She took the paper and looked up at me with her incredible green eyes. "Thanks," she told me calmly.

I felt a goofy grin sliding its way across my face. Why was I such a loser around her?

She placed the paper in with her other notes, swapped her books in her locker, and closed it back up. "You can go now," she told me, as she turned to walk away. As she turned, she dropped a small silver chain that must have been around her wrist as a bracelet.

I picked it up from the floor, and was going to call after her to give it back, but I decided to keep it for another time. I could plan a speech for her, and not be such a lame-o the next time I spoke to her. I placed the bracelet into my pocket and walked off to my class. "Yes, Cody, you are smarter than people give you credit for," I thought to myself.

Rogue felt the shirt she was holding slide through her fingers. He had liked her for a long time before he had asked her to dance the night her powers developed. She had wondered where that bracelet had gone. She suddenly didn't feel like going anywhere. She had something that she needed to do. She pulled out her laptop and opened her internet browser. She looked up Cody's parents and found their home phone number. She grabbed her cell phone and dialed the number. She needed to do this before she thought better of it.

"Hello?" a sweet voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Hi," Rogue began, "Ah'm an old friend of Cody's and Ah'm coming into town soon. Do you think Ah could talk to him and set up a time to meet?"

"Ah'm sorry, dear. Cody has been in the hospital with a coma for a long time now," the sweet woman answered.

Rogue felt guilt overcome her. A coma! He had been in a coma all this time and she hadn't even thought to find out what had happened to him? She really was a monster!

"You could always pay him a visit though. They say he can hear people when they talk to him," the woman told her.

Rogue felt tears forming behind her eyes. "Thank you. Could you tell me which hospital and the room, please?"

The woman gave Rogue all the information she needed to be able to go see Cody.

Rogue politely ended the conversation and returned to her computer to find trains headed for the area where the hospital was.

"Going for a trip, Chère?" Remy's voice came without any warning.

Rogue nearly jumped from her seat. "Ah told you to knock first!" she snapped as she turned toward him.

Remy looked past her to the laptop screen. "Louisiana? You home sick?"

Rogue closed the lid to the laptop so he couldn't see anything else. "Ah'm busy right now, Gambit."

Remy smirked at her. "Mad at me, Chère?"

Rogue stood and pushed him toward the door. "Leave me alone, Swamp Ra-"

Remy turned and stopped her before they reached her door. "What if I help you get to Louisiana?"

Rogue stopped pushing him. She didn't really have the money for a train ticket, and she didn't know if she wanted to chance stow-awaying on her own. "Ah'm listening."

Remy smiled down at her. He was clearly satisfied that she was giving him a chance to help her. He was sure that she was going to only give him this one chance, so he needed to take it now.

Oh... Remy taking the bull by the horns. Guess he really was a little tripped up by her going out on a date with Bobby, huh?

Well, we'll just have to wait until the next chapter to see what he does. We'll also get to see how Rogue reacts to seeing Cody for the first time in so long and it's the return of Pyro! As dirty as he is. Not that I don't like Pyro, he's just dirty. :p Great accent though. Anyway, the next chapter is going to be good. Oh, and there will probably be mention of she-who-shall-remain-unnamed. ;)

Thanks again to everyone who reviews and favorites this story!

clueless c - Yay! a new reviewer! Thanks for taking the time to let me know what you think! I hope you keep giving me feedback and you continue to enjoy my story!

Rogueslove22 - Bobby is a stinker! He knows what he's doing and he's playing the innocent little boy act! Wise in his situation, considering he has the younger thing going for him. Anyway, more of him and his craftiness later. And Remy... oh, Remy is going to start stepping his game up very soon. Mwahahaha!