Ok, so y'all have been warned: This is a very different take on Rogue's character, and her and John's relationship.
"It's now or never, Marie… you know that," John said quietly, ghosting one hand over her face, just enough to give him a light electrical feeling
"It's now or never, Marie… you know that," John said quietly, ghosting one hand over her face, just enough to give him a light electrical feeling.
"John… please, ya can't leave me here," Rogue begged, tears streaming down her face. "Take me with ya. Please."
"As soon as it's safe, I'll come back for you, babe. I promise. But right now, I don't know what Magneto's got planned, or where I'm gonna stand in his army. Until I do… I won't put you in danger, Marie. I'd rather have you stay with Bobby than do that," He said with a sad smile. "Now get back on that plane. I'll come back for you."
He gave her a quick kiss, and then he was gone.
Rogue –John was the only one who called her Marie –blinked back her tears, and did as he ordered.
They had kept the charade going for months. With Bobby in public, with John in heart and private. Rogue only tolerated Bobby because Xavier and Summers were keeping an eye on John, and Monroe was keeping an eye on her. They knew that something was up. When humans around the city had turned up missing, Xavier's suspicions had quickly lead back to John, although the man's vaulted ethics kept him from using his telepathy to confirm anything.
It hadn't taken long after Rogue first arrived to realize that while Xavier's dream sounded good in theory, it would never work in the real world. The constant attacks on mutants only confirmed her beliefs. Shortly after this discovery, she'd confided in John, telling him of her doubts.
He'd smiled that cocky grin at her. "Of course you don't buy it, sweet heart," He'd said with a laugh. " 'Cause you got brains. Humans will never accept us. We live in a kill or be killed world. And if Xavier had his way, we would fall in the 'be killed' category." He leaned in close to her, his breath tickling her ear. "I don't know about you, babe, but I plan on living for a while."
And that had been the start, the hatching of the plan. Their plan.
It was simple, and yet guaranteed to work as long as they kept a low profile. Knock off a few rich humans, save up enough money to stand on their own feet, then ditch the mansion and never look back.
But then the war started getting worse. Mutant killings were becoming common place. The school had been fire-bombed at least ten times. John had panicked, trying to keep Rogue out of danger, so he had knocked over two businessmen and a politician in two weeks. He had quickly been pinpointed by Xavier as the culprit, but nobody could prove anything.
But in a discussion the night before the mansion was attacked, John and Rogue had decided it was too dangerous for them to stay at the mansion… or at least, John decided it was too dangerous for him, and he was leaving on his own. He left Rogue with the impression that they were both leaving.
But as Rogue quickly found out, neither of their plans would come to fruition.
After that fateful day, when John left to forge a new power for the two of them, they wouldn't see each other for almost a year.
Rogue sighed as she entered her small apartment. She'd left Xavier's after the cure had been forced on her. She seethed a little as she set her keys down on the kitchen table.
She was one of them now. A human. Completely useless. Bobby and Ororo had taken her to get the cure as soon as possible, hoping to draw John out. Of course, it had. Her Pyro had blown up the building. But it had been too late for her…
She'd gotten a full time, respectable job that paid the bills, and looked good on tax forms. She'd gotten a second, most definitely illegal job to store up money for when Johnny came.
But it'd been a year. She was more than a little worried. She'd seen the Battle of Alcatraz on CNN. She'd seen Bobby bash John's head in with a block of ice. But she knew he was alive. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew. He would come back, eventually, and she'd be ready. She had over twenty thousand dollars saved up, so as soon as he came back for her, she'd be ready to go.
She sighed again as she set her bag down on the counter, and looked through the mail. She'd been ready, but he hadn't shown. And the human life was killing her.
Wait a second… She froze for a second, before forcing herself to set the mail back down on the counter calmly. She casually reached into her pocket, and fingered her Browning 9mm automatic, before spinning around.
"You gonna shoot me, kid?"
Rogue didn't drop the gun as Logan sauntered out of her small living room, and sat down at the table, but she gave him a hard smile. "Would it do me any good if Ah did?"
"You seem to think so, you still got it out," He pointed out with a smile.
"Let's just say Ah think a few to the skull might slow ya down long enough for me to get out the door."
Logan smiled. "You're a little jumpy, Marie."
"Yeah, that's what happens when you're a mutant with no powers anymore," She said bitterly, setting the gun on the counter. She and Logan both knew she could reach it in a heartbeat. They both knew that it wouldn't do her any good if she did.
"Hey, you decided to get the cure, that's what happens," He said with a shrug.
Rogue's jaw dropped, and she gave him an unbelieving stare. "Decide? Decide?" She finally screeched. "Your friends forced me into it, so that they could fill their sick ego!"
The room went icy as Logan stood. "What?" He asked dangerously.
"You didn't know?" She asked, tears forcing their way to her eyes. "The Weather Witch and Popsicle Boy took me to get the cure so they could lure Johnny out. It worked… all the way around. Bobby got rid of me, they lured Johnny out of hiding. The only thing that backfired was that they didn't catch him."
"They… they forced you?" Logan asked, his voice still a few degrees below deadly.
"Yeah. You knew me, Logan. Even if no one else knew what was going on with John and me, you always knew. You were the father Ah never had. You knew what we were doing, you knew what Ah was playing… do you really think Ah would have become… human –"She snapped out the word like a curse " –on purpose?"
"I thought maybe I was wrong, Marie. I didn't think Storm could do that," He said slowly.
"Yeah, well she could. All for the betterment of Mutant Kind," She said sarcastically. "Anything to benefit anyone else." She scoffed. "More like her pride was hurt that two of her students seen through their pseudo-happy lie."
"So where is the maniac? You've been on your own for a while… I would have figured you hitched up with him right after leaving."
"Ah… Ah don't know. He hasn't been heard from since Alcatraz. Magneto doesn't know where he is either. Yes, Ah asked," She said, rolling her eyes at his look. "It's not like he's dangerous anymore. Unless he were to throw chess pieces at me. Ah actually enjoyed myself. Pretty sad when ya take comfort from the man who tried to kill ya, huh?" She added, smiling as her added dig caused Logan to grunt. Let him; he deserved it after leaving her alone in the hands of fanatics for more than a year.
"So you don't know where he is? You ever think maybe he ran out on you?"
Rogue shook her head vehemently. "No. He wouldn't do that to me. Unlike some people." She glared at him suspiciously as he hung his head, not meeting her eyes. "Why? You heard somethin' I haven't?"
Logan was silent for a few minutes, before he spoke, still looking at the table. "What if I told you I knew where he might be?"
Rogue was silent for a moment, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she said slowly, "And how might you know?"
"I ain't sure, kid. Notice I said I might now where he is."
"Well, how did ya come to know where he might be?" She asked, her voice low and dangerous.
"I was talking to Storm before I came here. She told me you had went and gotten the cure. Then she said somethin' I found real interestin'. Said, 'He lost it when we told him.' Maybe they're holding him at the mansion."
"And were ya gonna tell me this 'fore Ah told you about Storm?"
Logan knew he was treading on thin ice, so he took a moment to think about his answer. "Kid… you know I only want what's best for you," He said slowly. He held up one hand as she went to speak. "Wait, let me finish. You know I only want what's best for you. Even if you want somethin' else. You and I both know that the life John has planned out for you isn't safe. Livin' on the run, always lookin' behind your back, always scared of whose gonna find you. I don't want that kind of life for you. You deserve better than that. You deserve to settle down somewhere, where you can just live your life. John ain't healthy for you, Kid."
Rogue carefully controlled her breathing. "Logan… who died and appointed ya God?" She asked, her voice angry. "What Ah do is my choice. Mine. Ah love him. Ah'm willin' to give up everythin' for him. Smoking isn't healthy for me. Bein'… human… isn't healthy for me. Hell, bein' alive at this point isn't healthy for me."