*~*Thank you to everybody that supported the last chapter. May it be by adding the story to their alerts or favorites, or if you reviewed, hell if you even read. Thanks so much guys! Oh and long ass author's note at the bottom; if you're interested.
*~*Nope, I don't own Marvel characters or anything along those lines.
Maybe it was a mistake being with Bobby for that short time. Maybe it was a mistake even leaving the school in the first place. What was she going to do? Show up at some random clinic where they were administrating this 'cure' and demand for a vaccination? Everybody assumed that was where she was going. She was tired of repeating how she didn't like the idea of this vaccine. Tired of how she constantly had to say she wasn't dating Bobby any longer.
Bobby was not-so secretly screwing Little Miss Walk-Through-Walls and Rogue didn't care cause she never loved Bobby.
She left and allowed them to think whatever they wanted.
She sighed as she shuffled her feet and blew out a shaky breath, watching the little cloud her air left. She was waiting in the cold for the bus to stop. The faster she got out of there, the less chance the X-men would find her. No, with Wolfie on their side, they would be able to find her no matter what. Thankfully, though, Logan was somewhere moping about that ginger he supposedly loved.
The thought made her roll her eyes and she stood once she saw the bus approaching. She was jumpy, maybe even paranoid. All she wanted to do was put a wide distance between her and Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
She released a sigh of relief once the bus finally stopped in front of her. She quickly climbed aboard the bus and paid for the fare. Only about five people were riding this bus, which was not that unusual. As she started to walk towards the back of the bus, her ears caught onto the sound of a familiar click. She heard him before she saw him. There sitting at the back of the bus, flicking his infamous lighter, was Saint John Allerdyce.
He looked different and it wasn't just because of his now blond hair. He had dark circles under his eyes, almost as if he gotten in a really bad fight, and lost. He looked drained and out of energy. He wasn't thin, but he wasn't anywhere close to being brawny.
The bus rolled on and Rogue quickly walked to where he was seated. She plopped down onto the seat to the left of him and shook off her hood.
"Finally decided to leave that shit hole?" John asked without looking up at her.
He knew it was her from the moment she stepped on the bus. They have always been able to sense each other's presence. It was strange, but when have mutants ever been considered normal. They were treated worse than animals, used for experiments. Now they had this so-called 'cure'. What was it going to cure? They weren't sick.
John snapped his lighter shut and glanced up at Rogue. She looked the same way she did when he walked out of the jet that fateful day. Same white bangs, same black gloves, hell it even looked like she was wearing the same clothes. The only difference now was the fact that she wouldn't stop glaring at him.
"Yeah, I just pulled a 'John' and walked away," she finally spat, anger and a hint of hurt were laced in her voice.
He laughed without humor and continued to play with the lighter. Was she seriously upset about what I did nearly four months ago?
"Oh please, Rogue. What did you want me to do? Sit there like Bobby and be a good little boy?" John said sarcastically.
Rogue glared at him and had the sudden urge to just punch him sans gloves. It was an appealing thought, but she squashed it down nonetheless. She wasn't in the mood to reawaken the John in her head.
Ever since that day she forcefully stopped John from burning those cops, Rogue had to deal with the tiny part of him she acquired from her little heroic act. She had to deal with his thoughts invading her psyche for four months before she finally managed to cage him in. Of course there were other personalities that were constantly fighting for control, but she somehow managed to have the upper hand.
"You could have warn me that you were planning on joining that-that asshole's little gang." The angrier Rogue got, the more her accent showed itself. Damn her Mississippian roots to hell.
John scoffed as he shook his head. He really didn't know she was that mad. Sure he was expecting her to be a little annoyed, but she looked like she seriously wanted to throttle him. It wasn't as if he killed her or anything.
"Why the fuck are you even mad? I didn't attempt to kill you. If I recall correctly you nearly killed me." He looked down at the flames that were dancing up his fingers. God, he wanted to roast her ass.
"I only did that to stop you from getting blood on your hands, you prick!" Her yells were starting to alert the other bus riders and they all turned to glance curiously at them.
John glared at every single one of them and willed the fire on his fingers to increase slightly. They got the message and turned around, but not before sneering at him.
"Mutant freak," one passenger said loudly enough for Rogue and John to hear.
"Asshole," John muttered as he casually closed his hand and squelched the flames.
He sighed and turned to Rogue. Shouldn't she be with Bobby or something? Why the fuck was she even outside of the mansion? Countless questions ran through his mind, but he wasn't concerned enough to get any answers to those questions.
There was an uncomfortable silence settling around them, but both were too stubborn to do anything about it. They would rather hold onto their pride instead of airing out what was in their heads. Rogue and John were the standard teenagers, just a tad bit more inflexible and with mutant powers.
A smirk appeared on his lips. He lazily drawled, "So… you're gonna get the 'cure' to finally fuck Bobby, huh?"
"Fuck you, John!" Rogue snapped disgustedly before she pressed on the little button that would request for the bus to stop.
Luckily enough for her they were approaching a stop already. She got up from her seat and walked off the bus without looking back. She flinched ever so slightly when the cold air hit her face. Her eyes scanned the empty highway. It probably wasn't the wisest choice she has ever made. She let John get under her skin and now she was in the middle of nowhere.
She sighed as the bus drove away, effectively leaving her in some unknown place. She told herself it was better walking than being stuck in a bus with John Allerdyce, but the cold was unbearable. She couldn't help but damn John to hell along with her thick accent.
There was a sudden click and she groaned. She slowly turned around and there he was, playing with his stupid lighter once again. He really wanted to get his ass kicked.
His smirk was still intact and he was slowly making his way to where she stood. She ran a hand through her hair, thinking of what to do next. She could walk away from John, but she wanted to ask him for a favor. A favor that she might regret later, but she was desperate now.
John wrapped his hand around her arm and she hissed before smacking the back of his head.
He snarled and his grip on her arm got slightly tighter. "What the fuck?"
Rogue was about to really inflict damage when he released his hold on her arm and started to walk away from her. She bit her lip as she contemplated her next move.
I'm really going crazy now
, she thought to herself then gathering as much nerve as she could, she called out John's name.
It only made him walk faster. Did he lose his hearing to go along with his missing sanity?
Rogue shook her head, huffed angrily and jogged after John. She reached him in seconds and reached out to get a hold of his left arm.
He turned before she did, though, and glared at her with such animosity that she couldn't help but feel uneasy. His jaw clenched, flames licked up his arms, a strange glint in his eyes. He looked unstable. Like how he did four months back at the Drake household. For some reason Rogue was not scared. If anything she was dying to see what was going in his deranged head of his.
"Go back to fucking school, Rogue. I'm not gonna waste my time with someone who is willing to give up their life." Accusatory words thrown at Rogue and she didn't know how to get it through this prat's thick skull that she didn't want the 'cure'. She wanted to gain control, to reign in her power. Why didn't he get that? Or anybody for that matter.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Johnny? I ain't taking the fucking vaccine! I'm sick and tired of how people assume I want the shot. When they announced the success, everyone looked at me. 'Poor little Marie can't touch anybody.' I'm not gonna sit around and let you accuse me of something I ain't even contemplating!" As her little rant went on, her words became louder and her hands moved rapidly.
Really all she wanted was to finally be in control. Xavier didn't understand how to help her. Putting blocks in her head wouldn't stop her from killing people with a touch. She needed somebody else's help and she didn't want to do it, but it was time to go somewhere else.
Her chest heaved and she defiantly stared up into John's dead hazel eyes, daring him to accuse her again. He knew better and kept his lips shut.
The flames went out as he ran a hand through his hair. He eyed the ground for a moment while recollecting his thoughts. Why was she even here? If she didn't want to get the 'cure' why did she leave the school? More importantly, why did John even care about her motives?
They stared at each other once more, sizing each other up. John grinned suddenly. Those hazel eyes finally lighted up like how they used to when he would pull a massive prank on an unsuspecting victim. Rogue grew suspicious and narrowed her eyes at him just a tad. His smile grew tenfold and he grabbed her glove-covered hand.
He dragged her across the deserted road, momentarily freeing her hand to flick open his lighter and brought the flame over to his left hand. He closed the lighter, slipped it in his front pocket and took hold of Rogue's hand in his right.
As they entered the woods, Rogue got an uneasy feeling and tried to pull her hand back. "Johnny, what are you doing?" she asked him, her voice barely above a whisper.
She did not want to be burned at the crisp by the hands of some pyromaniac whom deemed it necessary. Or at least she thought that's what he was going to do.
John turned his head to the right a little and she could see his smile. It rendered her speechless, which was new for her because smiles never made her lose the ability to speak.
Rogue thought he wasn't going to respond, but after a minute or so, he responded. "Relax, Rogue. I'm not killing you." He caught sight of her shocked expression and shook his head while continuing to lead her through the trees. "I could see the suspicion in your eyes. Don't worry. If it helps any, I'm giving you what you want."
"Oh yeah, John? What is it that I want?" The words slid off her tongue easily and she felt the corners of her mouth tilt upwards. Somehow this reminded her of the days when they were at the Institute and they would tease each other about stupid things. Bobby never understood their sarcastic remarks, but Rogue and John were too busy mocking each other that they didn't bother explaining it to Bobby.
John turned towards Rogue and smirked before nudging her forwards. She glared at him, but stepped in front of him and gasped. The trees were cleared and there in front of her was hundreds of mutants and leading all of them was the mutant she was planning on seeking out.
John leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Control…freedom."
She shivered at how close he was and she glanced at the mutant who tried to use her as a weapon to wipe out all of New York.
"My my, you have come, young Rogue," his voice floated across from where he stood and towards Rogue. She stood there, too shocked and elated to say anything.
In her head though, she could have sworn that there was an echo. It was Magneto's voice in her mind that whispered only to her, "Finally…"
*~*Well, after having a major writer's block for so long, I managed to come up with this much overdue chapter. I would like to apologize to those that were waiting on this chapter to be completed and updated. I haven't been getting a lot of inspiration and today, miraculously, while looking disappointedly at the unfinished chapter on my desktop, I got a tiny ounce of motivation and ran with it. I guess the Muses were looking out for me. I just do not really know if I should continue writing for this story. You can say I am just slightly unenthusiastic about writing for the story now. Tell me if you think I should continue this or discontinue. I would greatly appreciate it. Any mistakes are mine. It's one in the morning and my tired eyes might have missed some errors.
~geek