Author: MysteryGirl
Summary: John comes back to school to get his things.
Pairing: Vaguely Rogue/Pyro
Rating: PG-13Author's Note: Spoilers for X2
So take your suffering and be done with you
I am sorry I can't come there with you
So pack your pain in a suitcase full of lies
I guess this is where we say goodbye~Lifehouse.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Mystique as she parked the car in front of the school.
John Allerdyce swallowed hard.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied "'sides, their all at Dr. Gray's memorial."
Mystique nodded as she saw the sadness in the young man's eyes.
"I'll be back in a hour," she said patting reassuringly on the back.
He nodded and slid out of the car. He waved and then looked up at the school. He had forgotten how dark and forbidden it looked. He wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his sweatpants and walked up the drive.
Rogue coughed heavily into a tissue and laid back against the couch. I should be there, she thought as she glanced at the flower arrangements that lined the lobby; I should be there to hold Bobby's hand and to hug Scott and Ororo.
"And Logan," she whispered "Poor Logan."
John looked around the Lobby funeral arrangements lined the walls. He felt sick inside, Dr. Gray had been one of the nicest women in the world and she had died trying to save innocent lives. All because of Professor Xavier's all consuming quest to save humanity from itself.
"Something's just don't deserve to be saved," he whispered as he sprinted up the stairs.
Rogue stood up quickly. Someone is here, she thought to herself. She walked slowly up the stairs following the person's footsteps. Every since the attack on the school, alarms had been put in place and when they were activated all the X Men would know. But its only one person, she thought, maybe one of the students came back early.
John punched his code into the lock and smiled. Still the same old Professor, expecting him to return home like a runaway child. He looked around his room as a small lump rose to his throat. Bobby had kept his side just like it had been. His blankets were pulled off his bed in his haste to escape the coming soldiers. He laughed when he saw his Britney Spears poster, Rogue and Jubilee had gotten it for him for his Seventeenth birthday and before they had given it to him, they had defaced it, Drawing and writing some of the most vulgar things on it.
"John?" whispered Rogue as she approached the open door.
She watched as John sat on his bed and buried his head in his hands.
"Screwed up this time, didn't ya?" she asked.
John jumped from the bed.
"Ro!" he yelled, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"See Pyro," She exclaimed, "This is my home. I should ask a member of the Brotherhood what he's doing here."
"Getting his things," replied John pulling his suitcase from under his bed.
Rogue looked at him.
"How could you?" she whispered.
John looked at her, she could see how much older he looked.
"They tried to kill me," she continued "They almost killed half of New York City!"
John shook his head sadly.
"Do you think I like this? That I like leaving the only friends that I had?" he asked.
"Then come back John, Come back to school. To us." She said sadly.
"I can't," he whispered "I don't belong here. Magneto, whether his methods suck or not, understands me. You saw what I did to those cops, I don't belong with you."
His dark eyes were flooded with anguish as he finished stuffing his clothes into the suitcase. If he though about, Rogue had been the only reason he had stayed at the school for as long as he did.
"Good bye Rogue," he whispered.
"Wait John!" she yelled racing down the hallway.
He stopped.
"What?" he asked.
She kissed him lightly on the lips. Just enough so he'd feel but light enough so it wouldn't hurt.
"Goodbye," she whispered.