*~*Don't own Marvel or anything like that.

John had just finished showing Rogue to her new room, which was conveniently just a few doors down from his, and was now lying in his hard bed. It was out of kindness that he even bothered placing the country bumpkin so close to his own room. Any other day he would have favored her going back to the mansion and continue to attempt pursuing a relationship with Bobby Drake.

For some inexplicable reason John's blood boiled at the thought of Iceman kissing Rogue. Fucker better not have touched her while I was gone, John thought to himself. His hands balled up into fists as he attempted to suppress the rage consuming every cell in his body. He wanted nothing more than to find that ice cube and make him turn into a puddle. Why? He had no clue.

Rubbing his eyes with his clenched fists, John released a breath before looking up at his ceiling. What the hell was all of that? He had no reason to get mad over Bobby touching Rogue. He was her boyfriend or whatever. That was his job, to put himself at risk of dying in the hopes of finally fucking her. Because that's all Bobby really wanted from Rogue. Bobby just couldn't stand the fact that the new girl slightly intrigued John. No, he had to piss all over her leg and growl whenever John so much as smiled at the misunderstood girl.

Whatever. That was in the past. He had to live in the present, the now. It was time to focus on this little 'cure' problem. He knew that Magneto was arranging something elaborate and big, like always. John rolled his eyes, his mind going back to the punishment old Mags dished out on Callisto. He had overheard Magneto threatening to inject her snarky ass with the 'cure' and then let the hardcore anti-cure mutants take care of her. And by take care of her, he meant torture her till she begged for mercy.

John huffed while moving to lay on his side. The bright red numbers of his digital clock agitated him for no reason and he flicked open his lighter, set on burning the stupid contraption. "If only this fucking clock was actually the Iceprick," he muttered as flames danced around his fingertips. Just as he was about to blast the wretched clock, there was a light knock at his door.

His eyes flicked over to the door and back at the clock resting on his bedside table. It was past one in the morning. Who the hell would stop by to chat at this time? Not that he cared. Anything would be better than fighting off insomnia.

John stood and slowly walked over to the door, ignoring the now rapid knocks. When he opened the door, the impatient person barreled into his room and started pacing. His annoyance level shot up at the sight of Rogue. He wanted to yell at her for being with Bobby. He wanted to touch her and make her his. He wanted to do so many things that just weren't right. All the conflicted thoughts in his head were confusing him. He didn't like it when his mind was all over the place. He didn't like her. He just had to keep on saying that.

Rogue stopped pacing when the resonance of his lighter clinking open and close reached her ears. It calmed her jitters in a way. She coined it to the fact that it was the John-in-her-head that enjoyed the sound, not her. Her eyes met his, and her insides twitched when she saw an unreadable emotion shining in those hazel eyes.

"Can I ask you somethin', John?" she finally asked in a shaky breath.

He rolled his eyes, his hand going into his pocket while his other continued to play with the lighter. "You just did."

Rogue took in a slow breath to stop herself from attacking the cocky fire wielder that had her thoughts in disarray. Why did he give her room so close to his? He gave off that fuck off vibe the whole time they were on the bus and then he swapped to being nice to her. He was being hot and cold and it was pissing her off to no end.

"Goddamn it, Johnny. You can't stop being such a fuckin' smartass for one day, huh? Try and try as I might I can't seem to have a decent conversation with you. Y'know what? Forget I even came over." Rogue walked towards the door, and had her hand on the knob when John reached out to grab her arm.

He yanked her and pushed her against the wall. With his hands on either side of her head, she was efficiently trapped between him and the hard wall. Tension was building quickly but they were both too stubborn to say anything.

John was curious. He was trying to come up with an explanation for her suddenly moody behavior, but all he came up with was her carrying Bobby's spawn. He highly doubted that because when it came down to it, Drake was a pussy. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth at the thought of Bobby impregnating Rogue. Not even in Drake's dreams.

He bent down to look at Rogue in the eyes, the corners of his lips turning upwards. "If you weren't such a bitch, I might listen to you every once in a while."

Appalled at his words, Rogue stared up at him in shock, her mouth hanging open. He smirked at the girl lost for words and reached around her to open the door. He none too gently pushed her out of his room and released a sigh when she was out of his room.

On the other side of the door, Rogue was still trying to wrap her head around what just transcended. Was I just kicked out, she wondered idly to herself. Normally, she would have knocked down the door to teach Johnny-boy some manners, but she was occupied with the mind-boggling enigma that is John Allerdyce.

She wasn't sure if she should have been offended or amused by his actions. So she chose the latter. Her manic laughter made her sound insane, even to her own ears. Nevertheless, she continued to giggle hysterically, all the way back to her room, while John's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Whoever knew kissing a block of ice would make you go mad, he mused before slipping into a light sleep.

The day following John's rude dismissal of Rogue was filled with murderous glares, and silent threats. Even a person who was blind would have been able to see the tension between the two.

One thing Rogue wasn't really expecting, was the fact that people loved to gossip, considering that most mutants inhabiting the Brotherhood headquarters were young runaways. When the mutants noticed that she was glaring daggers at John constantly, they created some fabricated story about their 'relationship'. Stories that spoke about their supposed rocky relationship and sexcapades. Nonetheless, she ignored the nasty rumors, for the most part, and tried to not throw up when people would insinuate that her and John were an item.

But the one thing she definitely was not anticipating was that an armistice between her and John would appear so soon. She was sure that it was going to take them weeks, months, to talk again. They were both stubborn and always wanted to be right. After all, one of John's rules was to never apologize; it made you look weak.

So when he walked up to her on the third day of their mutual silent treatment, asking for a truce, she stared at him as if she was expecting John to transform into Mystique. After two minutes of her suspicious expression, John told her, "Either you accept my apology or you tell me to fuck off, Marie."

The way he said her name made her want to yell at him to stick the truce right up where the sun doesn't shine. But she refrained and shook his hand, her hand twitching with the need to use her power. Ah, if only, if only.

Now it was two days after John and Rogue's ceasefire, and they were outside in the forest, enjoying the cool air. He was coaxing Rogue into getting in touch with the John-in-her-head so she could acquire his fire manipulation ability. Of course, being the buzzjoy that she was, Rogue steadfastly refused.

It wasn't that she wasn't able to do it, just that she was scared to do it. What if she happened to let the John-in-her-head run ramped all because she wanted to see if she could play with the pretty fire? She wasn't taking any chances.

"John, I ain't doin' it. I'm not even sure if I can do that." Lies. She knew that when she made skin to skin contact with another mutant long enough, she would be able to use their power. How did she knew? Xavier told her that her power acted as a sponge.

John rolled his eyes before replying, "It's okay Rogue-y. That's why I like you. Cause you have zero fun inside of you."

For some odd reason Rogue's heart skipped a beat when John said he liked her. She wanted to kill him for making her react like that. And then she wanted to kill him even more when he called her boring.

Just as she was slipping off her gloves to hit John for fun, Callisto walked over to where they were standing. She looked disdainfully at Rogue before smiling brightly at John. Callisto failed to notice the disgusted look John aimed towards her. He just didn't like the girl.

"Magneto is requesting your presence," she said in a cheerful voice. Rogue gagged behind the other girl's back, causing a smirk to appear on John's face instantly. Callisto, thinking she was the cause of his sudden change in demeanor, latched onto his arm and started to pull him away from Rogue.

John released his hand from her grip. "Don't touch me." He shot one last look at Rogue then jogged away.

Rogue bit the inside of her cheek while staring at the mutant girl in front of her. Callisto glared after checking if John was out of earshot. She circled around Rogue at a lazy speed. The smirk on Rogue's face was a sign that Callisto's plan of intimidation was not working. So she told the Mississippian what was on her mind.

"Stay away from him. He's mine."

Rogue snorted at the ridiculous girl. Did she really think that she could command her to not talk to John, her only friend in the Brotherhood? Either Callisto lost some brain cells from the speed she ran at, or she was dropped regularly when she was a baby. Rogue hoped it was both cases.

"Listen, sugar," Rogue drawled, her Southern roots coming out as she talked. "I ain't gonna listen to some girl that's so desperate for attention she's covered in tattoos and piercings. Don't let John hear you saying that. He doesn't like it when people try to control him."

Callisto glared at Rogue, hating the fact that John's eyes followed Rogue instead of her. What did he see in the swamp rat? She was filthy and had a terrible accent to boot. Hell, she can't even have sex with him, Callisto whined in her head.

John suddenly walked back to the two glaring girls, throwing a curious glance at Rogue. She smiled at him and turned away from the pathetic Callisto. I'm gonna have to show her he's mine, Rogue thought.

*~*Sorry it was so late, RL's a bitch. I hope it was okay at least. Anyway, big thanks to my reviewers JJWOLF, Booklover9477, KraZiiePyrozHavemoreFun, and to FW Wandering and to everyone that added the story to their alerts/faves. Where would I be without you all? Okay the next chapter will be up in a week. Lemme know what you thought.

~geek