Touchable Rogue
~~ That was quick. ~~
Betsy smiled broadly at the Professor as he sent that thought to her when she and Rogue entered the lab.
~~ Told you it would work like a charm, luv. ~~
"Good morning, girls. What are you up to this morning?" Hank asked as he turned to greet them.
"Ah want the serum," Rogue blurted out before blushing. "Ah … Ah mean, Ah'd like to help with your testing so Kurt can get his powers back."
The two men in the room looked curiously at Betsy for an explanation of that statement.
~~ Just play along, luvs, and give her the goods. ~~
"Rogue, testing any new formula can be dangerous. Are you sure you're prepared to take part?" the Professor asked.
"Y'all don't seem too concerned about Kurt and Scott testing the stuff out. Ah can handle it and Ah'd make just as good a test subject as either of them," she huffed.
The two men exchanged looks of feigned concern and hesitation before nodding.
Appearing to reluctantly accept this course of action, Hank turned to his worktable and picked up a vial.
He then turned slowly to offer the serum to Rogue.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked gravely.
Rogue stared at the vial as it laid in his big furry palm, thought about Scott whose dangerous eyes were no longer dangerous, and nodded quickly while snatching the serum up.
Without hesitating she removed the lid and gulped down the thick, vile tasting concoction with only a grimace of disgust at the taste.
Betsy looked at the Professor.
~~ Go ahead. It begins working almost the second the first drop touches the tongue. ~~
With his reassurance, Betsy reached out to take her friend's bare hand in her own.
"It works just lahke that?" Rogue asked, amazed that Betsy could already touch her bare flesh.
"Just like that, luv," Betsy released Rogue's hand to throw her arms around the girl's neck and hug her. "You're cured, Rogue!"
Rogue's arms hung limply at her sides for a moment as the reality sank in.
Betsy's bare cheek was pressed against her own and there was no pull.
Her mutation was … gone.
"Oh mah gawd," she whispered disbelievingly.
"Come on, luv, this is a great thing. Smile!" Betsy pulled back to order.
At her friend's words, Rogue did smile.
A small, hesitant smile that quickly grew into huge, glowing smile that touched her lips and eyes.
Then she was laughing.
Then Betsy was laughing.
Then the girls were hugging and laughing and dancing around the room.
Hank and the Professor watched their celebration with smiles upon their own faces.
~~ I do believe this is going to work out just right. ~~
The men exchanged very pleased glances and Hank nodded his agreement at the Professor's statement.
~*~*~
"So you're, like, touchable?" Kitty exclaimed, appearing to be amazed by this news.
Rogue nodded rapidly and Kitty hesitantly reached out her bare fingers to touch her friend's cheek.
"Cool," the girl said when there was no pull at the contact.
"It's incredible," Jean sighed with a secret wink to Betsy.
"This totally rocks, Rogie!" Tabitha gushed as she jumped up to hug Rogue.
Soon Rogue was the laughing and smiling center of attention, being hugged and fawned over by the girls who were gathered in her bedroom with her.
"You know what we've got to do now, don't you?" Tabitha pulled back to smile wickedly at the group.
Betsy turned her gleaming blue eyes to look at the blonde girl.
"Oooooh, you're so right, luv!" She exclaimed jumping up to stand beside Tabby.
"What are you two going on about?" Rogue asked staring at them like they'd flipped their lids.
"SHOPPING SPREE!" the duo cried out as one.
Jean and Kitty jumped up clapping and started chattering excitedly, as they loved the idea.
"What?" Rogue was openly puzzled at their actions.
"A makeover, Rogue! You can be touched now, so you, like, need a whole new wardrobe!" Kitty informed her.
Rogue looked down at the outfit she was wearing – her usual sheer green top over a purple undershirt, short black skirt and black leggings.
"What's wrong with mah wardrobe?"
Betsy moved to kneel on the floor beside where Rogue sat on the bed, took her friend's hands in her, looked into her friend's pale green eyes and bit her bottom lip as she tried to think of the best way to express her thoughts.
"Well … no offense, luv, but … it's … well it's …" she turned to look over her shoulder at the others for help.
"Dark?" Jean ventured
"Unimaginative?" Tabby suggested.
"Too concealing?" Kitty said.
Betsy smiled at the last suggestion and turned back to Rogue.
"Exactly. Its too concealing, luv. You're touchable now, Rogue. You don't have to hide your skin anymore and we need to get you some hot new fashions to show it off so all the blokes around here can get an idea of what they've been missing."
"But," Rogue began as her friends pulled her up off the bed and started out of the room, "I don't want these blokes to know what they've been missing!"
~*~*~
During the short drive to the mall in Jean's SUV Betsy, Jean, Kitty and Tabitha ignored all of Rogue's attempted protests and talked on and on about where they wanted to shop and what she'd look best in.
When they found a parking space and started dragging Rogue into the mall, she knew she had no choice in the matter.
They were making her a mission.
A project.
And these girls never started a project without finishing it.
Rogue cursed them creatively for having that persistence.
The group stepped into the bustling shopping complex and Betsy stopped just inside the doors to gaze happily at their surroundings.
"You Americans sure do know how to spend your money," she gushed, watching people enter and leave shops loaded down with shopping bags.
Suddenly a whistle from the upper levels drew their attention moments before Pietro appeared at Betsy's side. The others were rocked by the gust of air that followed in Quicksilver's wake.
"Ha. I knew you couldn't resist coming here some time this week," the platinum haired Romeo said as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder and kissed her cheek.
Betsy smiled up at him and blushed prettily, causing the other girls to roll their eyes and look away.
Kitty spotted Lance coming down the escalator and, after throwing an apologetic look at the others, rushed to go greet her boyfriend.
"Oh brother. We'll never get any shopping done now," Tabitha groaned.
Rogue mentally cheered at that and Betsy pulled away from Pietro to glare at her friend.
"There isn't a chance in this world that you'll get off that easily, luv," she stated having picked up on Rogue's thoughts.
"What are you gals up to?" Pietro asked, curious now after seeing the face Rogue made at Betsy's comment.
"We're giving our girl here a makeover," Tabitha said as she wrapped an arm around Rogue's waist.
"Oh really? No more goth girl, eh?" he chuckled until Betsy elbowed him sharply in the ribs.
He looked down with a frown at his glaring girlfriend and shrugged as if to say, "What did I do?"
She continued to glare and so he just dipped his head to kiss her lips until she went all soft and limp in his arms.
Again the others girls looked away.
And they immediately saw Kitty locked in a heated embrace with Lance at the bottom of the escalators.
"This is gonna take a while," Jean sighed.
"Let's hit the arcade!" Tabitha suggested.
Jean chuckled and shook her head.
"Count me out of that. I think we should go ahead and start without them," the redhead said.
"Tha arcade sounds swell ta me. Ah could really go for playin' some foosball," Rogue leapt at Tabby's alternative.
"Oh no you don't," Betsy said from behind them.
The purple haired girl quickly pulled herself from her boyfriend's arms, promised she'd call him later then said a quick goodbye before snagging Rogue by the arm and pulling her further into the mall.
"You girls grab Kitty," she ordered Jean and Tabitha.
Grinning wickedly Tabitha rushed to do just that.
She and Jean each grabbed the startled girl by an arm and drug her away from her boyfriend who was left standing there, arms in midair and lips still puckered from their kiss.
"Wha - " Lance exclaimed at the sudden loss of his girl.
"Sorry, luv, we need her more right now," Betsy called out to him over her shoulder as the group started up the escalators.
"I'll call you tonight," Kitty finally snapped out of her daze to promise him as the distance between them grew.
