Chapter 2: Rectifier

             Rogue felt incredibly angry after Jared's stunt in Remy's room, she wasn't amused by it.  She found herself wondering if it was the fact he'd been in Remy's room more than the fact he'd been smoking an illegal substance.  She didn't like the thought of Jared poking through Remy's things, trying to learn things. 

             It almost made sense that he'd want to.  It was obvious he liked her – and almost quite obvious he wanted to separate them to make room for himself.  Why else would he be constantly asking questions about her relationship with Remy after all, and what was it he had said to her weeks earlier in the regards to a comment about smoking?  'If you were my woman, I'd have quit a long time ago'.  The way he looked at her, even the way he made hints, it was obvious.  She hated that.  

Looking around Remy's room for any sign of weaknesses would certainly be beneficiary for him.  She vowed to herself to keep an eye on him just to make sure there were no more repeat performances of this little deed.

Despite her uneasiness with Jared's infatuation, she was secretly flattered, two men rather interested in her, it was flattering, she'd only ever had one guy interested in her in her whole life – Remy.   Now that Jared was interested in her, it made her feel more attractive than she'd ever thought she was.

             Two days later found Rogue sitting at the computer in the recreation room, checking her email – she couldn't use Kitty's laptop since Kitty happened to be using it.  An email from Remy lightened her dark mood and took her mind off of her worries, she read it thoroughly…

********************************************Email Start**************************************************

             Marie, my Chere,

                           The weather here is…stormy, even for summer, we had lightning last night, and even now as I type thunder still rumbles nearby.  Wish I was there, from what I been hearing, Bayville is havin' some pretty hot sunny weather…

             I'm still working on this thing for Xavier – could sure use your help – and your company, missin' you like crazy here!  Been so lonely.  Have you any idea when you're going to be coming over here?  You said after school ended – school ended a week ago, what's taking so long?  Are they trying to stop you from coming over to see me?

Email me back,

        - Remy.

********************************************Email End**************************************************

Rogue read the short email over a few more times.  Remy was right, she'd said to him she'd try and go over after school had finished.  School had been over for a week and she hadn't even mentioned to the Professor that she'd like to go over to Muir Island.   She'd been distracted with other things.

She began to type a reply, and was halfway through typing her email back to Remy when Jared stepped into the room.  His blue hair was hanging down in thin messy braids rather than the spikes he usually wore his hair in.  He walked over to her and sat on the edge of the table.

             "Hey."
             Rogue acknowledged his presence – barely – by giving him a quick glance.  The way the bright sunlight dappled through the nearly closed blinds up on the window played across his face, a beam of light illuminating his bright green eyes.  She looked away, feeling a stir of attraction within herself, she wanted to avoid it, she tried to force herself to think of Remy, how attractive he always was even when he looked tired or was caked in dirt. 

             "You're still mad at me," Jared realised, he rested his hands in his pockets, crossing his legs at the ankles, he hunched his shoulders a little, and turned his head slightly, keeping his eyes on her the whole time.

             "Nothing gets past you," Rogue remarked bitterly, she continued to type her email out – never mentioning Jared's name within it, and she wasn't particularly sure why she didn't tell Remy about what had happened in his bedroom – he deserved to know.  Maybe it would be easier on Jared if she told Remy about it, but she wasn't sure that was what she wanted to do. 

             But something held her back from telling him.

             "Who you emailing?" Jared asked, glancing at her screen.

             "Who do you think?" Rogue glanced to Jared again, then away again, she kept telling herself to stop looking at him in that way.  "My boyfriend, y'know, the one who's room you were in a few days ago?" Rogue hissed.

             Jared smiled a little, "I'm sorry," he said softly, "it was stupid…will you forgive me?" he pleaded.

             "No," Rogue clicked send on the email after having finished – her email had only mentioned she'd find out about going over to Muir Island as soon as she could.  She logged out of her email address instantly.

             "Rogue, honey, I don't know how else to say I'm sorry…" Jared sighed, he was looking at her through the braids in front of his face.

"I'm not your honey," Rogue remarked, "will you just leave me alone?" she frowned.

Jared looked at her as if she were getting mad over nothing, he stood up, "I don't know what you're getting all worked up about…it was just a little wee—"

             "Ssh!" Rogue threw a dirty look at him, "there are people in this mansion who have ears that can pick up sentences from six rooms away!" she pointed out, "do you want to get busted?!" she demanded, "and Logan doesn't hear you talkin' about it like it's nothin' or smell it off of you then the telepaths might just catch it in your thoughts," she pointed out.

             "Sorry…" Jared chewed his lip, his lipring momentarily disappearing into his mouth completely.

             "Fact is, you brought that stuff into this mansion – into HIS room, and everyone in this mansion has enough trouble trusting him as it is without you pinning the blame of your drug habits on him."  Rogue sighed, and looked away, she didn't want to be angry with him, she wanted to be with him, she wanted to know how it felt to kiss him with that lipring pressing against her mouth.

             Jared and Rogue looked to each other, and there was an awkward silence, Rogue found herself lost in those eyes, she felt her breath catch in her throat when she realised she was letting herself be attracted to Jared.  She begged herself to stop in her thoughts.  

             "Rogue…I brought you something," Jared reached into his pocket, "Call this a gift of my apology," he looked around suspiciously making sure they were completely alone in the recreation room, then placed a small plastic bag on the desk in front of her.

             Rogue curiously looked down to the small plastic bag, inside were six very small blue pills.  On the pills, were tiny letters imprinted, the letters 'mX'.  She recognised them instantly.  MutantX, the drug that had been circulating the world over, a powerful drug that would – when taken by a mutant – drain all mutant power for a time, leaving the user as defenceless as a general human being. 

Rogue moved away quickly, her chair falling backwards, she tumbled off and landed into the back of the couch with a dull thump.  "Get those away," she hissed, she pulled herself up shakily, she gripped onto the couch for support.

             "You don't even know what they are…" Jared looked at her with much confusion, he raised his pierced eyebrow.

             "Yes I do!  Get them the fuck out of this mansion!" Rogue yelled at him.

             "I don't understand…" Jared looked at her curiously, "I got these for you…for us…they can stop our powers, Rogue…"

             Rogue moved away, "You're talking fucking crazy – those things are dangerous, get rid of them, flush them down the toilet or throw them down the sink or something!  Just get rid of them!!"

             "Are you kidding, these things cost me like six hundred dollars!" he gaped at her, his green eyes wide in alarm.

             "Then you're a fool for paying," Rogue grabbed the bag, "If you don't get rid of them I'll take them straight to the Professor, do you hear me?!" she grimaced.

             "Wait!" Jared pleaded with her, "you don't understand!"

             "What don't I understand?!" Rogue demanded, her eyes beginning to water, she forced the tears back, pulling herself together, letting anger override the emotions.  She felt it was Jared who was the one who didn't understand.

             "Rogue, look…I'm in love with you, okay!?  I got these so that you and me can finally stop chasin' the kiss, and actually have it."

             Rogue's bottom lip trembled, "No…I can't listen to this!" she yelled, "I won't…"

"I can't help the way I feel…" Jared's voice trailed off, he looked away, almost guiltily.

"You hardly know me!" Rogue yelled, "and you know I'm with Remy!  I spent a year fightin' everything that came my way just to be with him, I'm not gonna let you fuck it up for me and him!"

Jared looked away, "that hurt."

"I don't love you," Rogue remarked coldly, despite she had to ask herself if she was being honest or not, "I'm sorry but I don't," she tossed the bag of pills at him, "get rid of them!" she hissed, then, stormed out of the room, heading down the hall, still fuming, her breath heavy.

             How could he have brought them into the mansion, the same drug that – in liquid form – had taken away her powers the night of her rape, leaving her defenceless and helpless.

             Rogue closed her eyes, taking in deep breaths to try and calm herself.  Why did he have to say he loved her, why did he have to make this so hard on her.  If he hadn't said he loved her, she wouldn't have reacted so badly, yet, he had, and now she found herself wondering if she loved him back.

             "Rogue…" Kitty turned a corner, spotting her friend, "hey…what…what's wrong?" she asked suddenly, noticing Rogue was breathing heavy, her face twisted in anger.

             "Nothing, Jared and me just got into an argument," Rogue mutter frostily.

"Over what?" Kitty asked worriedly.

"Stupid stuff," Rogue said, she headed down the hall towards her friend, "Remy emailed me," she quickly changed the subject.

             "And?" Kitty chewed the inside of her cheek.

             "He's askin' me to go over there," Rogue looked down to the ground.

             "And you're not going to?" Kitty seemed surprised.

             "Depends on whether the professor will let me go, really, doesn't it?" Rogue remarked.

             "I think you don't want to go because of Jared…" Kitty muttered, "You need to get a grip, Rogue…he's an immature seventeen year old kid," she pointed out.  "And he has a trouble with authority," she added.

             "And you think Remy is mature?" Rogue raised an eyebrow, "and like Remy hasn't a trouble with authority?  He's broken the law so many times…"

             Kitty couldn't believe Rogue was – in her own way – defending Jared now.  "More mature than that British dickwad," Kitty folded her arms.  "I don't know why the hell you're sticking up for Jared."

             "Look, we don't even need to have this conversation, I'm with Remy and that's the end of it, I'm not gonna ditch Remy for Jared, get real, I already have a tall, gorgeous man who loves me, why would I wanna throw that away?"
             Kitty looked at Rogue, finally giving in, "okay…" she nodded, "Just…ignore Jared from now on, okay?"

             "Okay," Rogue smiled a little, but inside, she was frowning, how on earth could she ignore Jared Rickman, when he had the very thing that she wanted within his grasp, yet the very thing that had brought her the loss of her innocence?  "I will."