Chapter Five
(A/N: This chapter is going to be a bit longer than the ones before, just because I think I have to do a lot of the next stuff that happens in Rogue's POV, because it's mainly happening to her… just wanted to tell you.)
Rogue:
Bobby intertwined his fingers with my gloved ones underneath the table. He's so nervous that's Logan's going to grab me and start kissing me or something, I thought, annoyed. Then, I blushed at the thought. Not that I would mind. Then, I felt guilty for feeling that way, when my sweet, adorable boyfriend was sitting right beside me, clasping my hand. It was wrong, to have feelings for Logan when I was with Bobby. Not that they would do any harm, since Logan was never going to find out that I liked him as anything more than a friend… or brother… or whatever he thought I liked him as. I decided to try to shove all those evil thoughts out of my mind, and focus on how cute Bobby was, especially when we were sitting on the couch together, watching a movie or having a thumb war. The only problem with the images I was conjuring up, was that Bobby wasn't always the one on the couch.
I must have shaken my head in frustration, because Bobby asked, "Is something wrong, Rogue?"
"No," I said, smiling. "Why would there be?"
He shrugged. "Never mind." He went back to his steak, but gave my hand an extra squeeze.
Just then, I sensed the Professor's eyes on me. I turned to the other end of the table, where he was sitting with the teachers, and saw I was right. He was frowning, not angrily, but, it looked like, sadly. He saw me looking at him and went back to talking to Jean.
Did he see what I was thinking? I wondered, biting my lip nervously. Well, if he did, he has no reason to tell Logan, I reasoned, and I went back to my steak, also, but not before I flashed Logan a smile, because he had glanced at me from the teacher's end of the table, too.
Back in the room that night, Kitty and Jubilee were having a discussion about whether or not the old rule about no white after Labor Day was still in tact. I sighed. I'd never met two girls more into fashion than they were. Around eleven, they finally shut up, but even after that, I couldn't sleep. I sighed. I always had trouble sleeping. At 12'35, I decided to give it up and do what I normally did when I couldn't sleep: go to Logan's room. Then, I realized, when I was halfway there, I couldn't do that, because Logan was back. I grinned. So, I decided to head for the kitchen, feeling kind of down, because my hopes of having a cigar were dashed. They're bad for you anyway, I told myself sternly. And you probably look like an idiot smoking them, too. What kind of teenage girl smokes freaking cigars? I asked myself, giggling silently. One that's been brought back to life by a guy that does, I guess. Of course, smoking cigars wasn't the only unhealthy addiction I'd acquired. I didn't find beer as repulsive as I had when I tasted it when I was eleven. Now… it was kind of good. Really good.
I sat down at the island after I'd gotten the chocolate tub out of the freezer and a large spoon out the silverware drawer, and dug in. I'd eaten about five huge spoonfuls of ice cream when I heard someone coming down the hall. Probably someone else who can't sleep, I thought. It was sort of irritating. I wanted to be alone at the moment. I changed my mind immediately when I saw who it was.
"What are you doing up so late, Kid?" Logan asked, coming into the kitchen.
I shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing."
"Well, you have to answer and I don't," he said. "So, tell me."
I sighed. I wanted so bad to find it annoying when he got all brotherly like that, but I just couldn't. "Couldn't sleep. I've had trouble sleeping for a long time."
"So, this is what you do when you can't sleep?" he asked, not sounding convinced. "You come in here and eat chocolate ice cream?"
I shrugged. "Sometimes." I could smell the cigar smoke on him from here, and that really didn't help my craving at the moment. My hands started shaking involuntarily, and I didn't even know until the spoon starting hitting the table and making a noise. The harder I tried to make them stop, the more they shook.
"And what do you do other times?" he asked, but he already knew the answer.
I didn't meet his gaze. I was pretty sure he'd be mad. "It's all your fault, you know. I never smoked them before Liberty Island. Now it's just like, sometimes, I just have to have one, or, this happens." I indicated my shaking hands. "I thought maybe it's go away, but it hasn't."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry, Kid. I never meant to make you a smoker. That's unhealthy, you know. Causes lung disease and all kinds of other gross stuff."
I nodded. "Yeah, but it beats dying in a machine Magneto built." I finally looked up at him. He didn't seem mad. Get ready for some major withdrawal, though, I told myself. He's never going to let you smoke now that he knows.
He opened the fridge. "Of course, they wouldn't have beer, it's a school."
"Bottom drawer, in the very back," I said, before I realized it. I covered my hand with my mouth. No way was he going to let this slide.
He turned around slowly, eyebrow raised. "What did you say?"
I didn't answer. I looked down at my ice cream, but, suddenly, I wasn't so hungry any more.
He came over to the island and sat down across from me. "Kid, have you been drinking? Tell me."
I nodded. "Not a lot, though," I said quickly. "Just sometimes… when I felt really sad."
He frowned. "Why would you feel like that."
I looked up at him. "Like you have to ask."
He looked confused for a minute, and then he understood what I was saying. "Look, Kid… Rogue, I mean. I'm sorry that I left. Sorry that I took so long. Three years… and what did it get me? Nothing but an abandoned concrete building that's falling apart and absolutely no answers.
"Don't be sorry for that, Logan," I said quickly. "You had to go do that. It would have been stupid not to try and go look. I'm just a silly little girl, I guess." I tried to smile, but it didn't work out very well. A tear ended up sliding down my cheek and into the ice cream, which was now starting to slowly melt. I put the top back on and got up to put it back in the freezer. I put the spoon in the sink, then turned around. "Well, I guess I'll go to bed now."
"Me, too," he said, standing up. "I'll walk you to your room, if you want."
I shrugged. "Ok." We both tried to go out the doorway at the same time, and collided into each other. I stepped on his foot, and quickly apologized. Or, started to, anyway. "Ow! Oh, so-" I stopped mid sentence, suddenly feeling very faint. I felt my face pale.
"What's the matter, Kid?" Logan asked, worried.
I looked at him, disbelief on my face. I looked down. He wasn't wearing shoes. Neither was I. I took my glove off my left arm and grabbed his hand with my bare one. Nothing happened. No pain, no memories of his… no anything. It was just like I was holding his hand. My faint feeling became stronger with shock. "Oh, my Gosh…"
I must have stumbled, because he caught me. Then, it dawned on him. "But… you're not… what's happening?"
"I don't know," I said, weakly. "Do you think my power's gone?" Fear flooded me. Sure, I was always thinking about how different life would be if I could touch people, how much better it could be… but had I really meant it? Did I really want my mutation to go away? What if it had? I'd be a normal human again… I didn't know if that was good or bad.
"Holy shit," Logan said. He seemed to be in disbelief himself. "You're not wearing gloves. My skin is touching yours, and nothing's happening." He looked at me, and seemed to pull himself together. "I think we're going to have to wake up Doc."
I nodded, still feeling a bit off. I didn't let go of his hand, half because I wanted to make sure this wasn't some fluke, that this was really for real, and half because I liked the feel of his hand against mine, without the glove. His hand was rough, which seemed fitting, but I'd just never really noticed before. It felt nice.
We walked down the hallway towards Scott and Jean's room. He was about to barge right in, when I said, "Um, Logan. Isn't Jean gone with Storm to Boston?"
"Dammit," he said. "Well, Scott's still here, right? Wait, he can't be, or they wouldn't have needed me to baby-sit."
I cocked an eyebrow. "Baby-sit? You?" I giggled. "The Professor and him went to visit Magneto in his plastic prison thing," I said. "Jubilee heard Storm telling Jean."
He cursed again. "So what the Hell are you supposed to do? This could be life threatening for all we know. I mean, what possible reason could your powers be fading away for, unless you're dying or something?"
"Oh, gee, that the most comforting thing I've ever heard in my entire life," I said, my voice dripping sarcasm. I glared at him. "Let's try to think of some other logical, but less morbid, reasons, please."
He frowned in concentration. "Well, am I the first person you've touched? I mean, did you just now start being able to touch people?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. I've always just worn the gloves. This could have been going on for a long time, and I just didn't know it."
He sighed. "Ok… what are we going to do. All right. Here's an idea. Maybe it's not you. Maybe it's me. Let's go to your room, and see if you can touch one of your friends."
I frowned. "I might hurt them, Logan."
He rolled his eyes. "Well, they can just get over it. This is important." He pulled me by my hand all the way to the other end of the hallway. He didn't bother knocking on my door. He turned on the lights and shut the door behind him.
Jubilee sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. "What the hell? Rogue? What's Wolverine doing in here?" She grinned mischievously. "You know, this wouldn't look great, if someone walked in."
He growled, as Jubilee, Kitty, and me giggled. She was right. Then, remembering what we were in there for, I went up to Kitty.
"Do you mind if I touch you really quick?" I asked, trying to make it sound as normal as I possibly could, but I don't think I succeeded.
"Why?" she asked, looking at me suspiciously. "You mean without your gloves? You'll hurt me."
"That's what we're making sure of," Logan said, giving her a look that dared her to not allow me to touch her. "Come on. Some people would like to sleep tonight, you know. Those of us who do sleep."
