Holy crap. It's 12am. I worked till 10:30 PM and I haven't eaten dinner, and I'm still writing. God I'm obsessed!
Here it is kids. The land mark chapter. I hope I do the slash universe justice.
Like every time before, Jean and Marie sat cross-legged across from each other on the floor. This time, instead of the garden, or in their room, Jean and Marie sat in Cerebro. Cerebro was soundproof and none of the machinery in the room made any sound. Marie placed her hands together with the back of her left hand on the top of her right palm. In her palm, rested the fist-sized moonstone, which Professor Xavier had given her. Whether or not it held any mystical, focusing attributes was not known. All Marie needed was to have something solid that she felt would anchor her.
Jean sat patiently in front of Marie. Jean didn't know how long she sat there and wasn't sure if she had been sitting there for five minutes, or fifty minutes. It seemed as if time itself had stilled, fearing its passing would disrupt Rogue's concentration. Jean had spent the months before sitting and studying Marie's features in depth as Marie did focus training, and even without her telepathy, Jean knew Marie was not completely focused. The occasional slight twitch of her eyelid, or the insignificant skip in her breathing gave it away. Signs that were imperceptible to others, even Logan with his enhanced senses, yet visible to Jean. The telepath sat perfectly still and simply took in Rogue's features. Rogue was definitely well on her way to becoming a beautiful woman, and for the first time, Jean's heart seemed to flutter as she watched Rogue. The feeling passed as Jean thought of Marie's personality. How sad it was that Rogue kept everyone at bay. Understandable, yes, since her powers conflicted with being close, but Jean could see Rogue continuing to hold others at bay even if her powers were not an issue.
"Opening that much, and telling so much of yourself to others is scary, I think. That person could always leave you, and even if you promise to stay friends forever, it's different. Opening up isn't so much letting people in, but giving a piece of yourself away forever. With Cody, I opened up to him, and even if he does wake up from coma one day, he wouldn't want me. I know he hates mutants, and I feel I have left a part of me with him. A part of me that he'll either forget, or hate forever." Marie had said during one of their late night conversations.
"Do you think I would do that? I'll never leave you, Marie. And if I do, nothing would change. And I could never, ever forget you or hate you." Jean had replied. Marie had said nothing, but Jean wasn't expecting her to.
Jean's thoughts returned to the present and she looked deeply into the young woman's face. Jean had seen into Marie. Every time Marie had let Jean into her mind, Marie let Jean in one hundred percent. No one, not even Scott let her do that. Even if the person said they didn't hide anything, subconsciously they did. With Marie, Jean knew everything about her, and knew more than anyone had or ever would. Her fears, hopes, likes, her everything; Marie shared openly with the telepath. In return, Marie knew everything about Jean. How could Jean deny Rogue anything less? It wasn't the effect of Rogue's power, but like Marie had voluntarily opened her mind to Jean's telepathy, so did Jean open her mind to Rogue during their telepathic links. Never had Jean been so close to someone before in her life. And never had Jean wanted to touch someone so much in her life.
In the pit of Jean's stomach, a deep, gaping feeling formed and welled up to Jean's throat that almost caused her to gasp. Jean's eye's widened at the realization of what she felt. Jean didn't love Marie like she loved Scott. No, this was far beyond that. It was something more powerful that she couldn't find the words for and it scared her like nothing before.
Why now? She wondered bewilderedly, as she felt her feelings for Marie magnify ten fold now that they had been revealed. Jean fought the trembling that suddenly siezed her body, but Jean knew what she felt wasn't wrong. It was true, and it was good. Jean silently took a deep breath and stilled her fluttering heart. Marie was ready now. Her body language was cool, calm and ready. Jean looked at her for a second more, and knew what she needed to do.
Without the slightest rustle from her clothing, Jean leaned forward. She placed her two hands flat on the floor by Marie's hips, rose up slightly on her knees and kissed Marie lightly on her lips. Jean wasn't using her TK shielding and didn't worry about Rogue's power activating. What frightened her more was what Rogue's reaction would be. Would she pull away disgusted? Would Rogue close off her beautiful mind to her now? Jean didn't want to use her telepathy to know the answer. She simply enjoyed the moment, hoping it wouldn't be the last and waited for time to pass.
At first, Marie was still and lifeless against Jean's shy mouth, but then, Rogue's kissed back. Her kiss light and unsure. Jean's heart soared as she felt Rogue's response and helplessly moved in deeper to kiss Marie harder. When Rogue responded a second time, Jean felt as if her soul had caught fire.
Rogue broke off the kiss a little reluctantly, and Jean felt the disbelief and joy in Rogue as she realized that her power was in check. Rogue kept her eyes closed, like Jean; she wanted this moment to last.
"This isn't a joke or a test right? No TK? No mental image?"
"No joke. No test." Jean said while she kissed Rogue again. "I would never do that to you." Jean kissed Rogue again, deep and hard and slipped her left hand an inch up Marie's tank top. With her right, Jean traced Rogue's ear and then rested it against Marie's neck. Marie's pulse was strong and even despite these new revelations.
Rogue lost herself in Jean's kiss. Jean finally linked their minds together and Rogue felt the awesome emotion Jean had for her. There was no word in any dialect of the world that could possibly encompass the magnitude of this passion, but Rogue and Jean didn't need words. Marie raised her right hand and ran it up and down Jean's right arm twice before it slid down to the wrist. Something was on Jean's wrist that blocked Rogue from touching the skin. It irritated Rogue that there would be a barrier and so, she pulled at it. Her fingers ran against it as she tried to feel what it was that dared intrude on their intimacy. Metal, it was a metal bracelet. And it was from Scott.
I wanted to give this to you during dinner, but you were busy. It is set with five diamonds. One for every month I am gone. Every time you miss me, look into the diamond and see how fractured the image behind it is, and know that I am like that without you. Fractured. I love you Jean and I'll see you in five months.
For some reason, Marie suddenly vividly remembered the note left by Scott the night he left to teach field school even though she had only scanned it once.
No. This is wrong. What am I doing? Marie started to think to herself. Her pulse became stronger and faster as she started to panic. Scott and Jean are happy together. What am I doing? This isn't right. Marie's heart pounded frantically as fear consumed her. She wanted so much to pull away from the kiss, but her body wasn't responding. Jean must have become aware of Marie's realization as her kiss became desperate. Rogue wasn't the only one whose body didn't do what was wanted. This only added to Marie's panic, and as her adrenaline kicked in, her body reacted.
Both women became aware that Rogue's power had kicked in. Jean felt the gut wrenching feeling on her body and mind as Rogue began to drain her, and Rogue felt the essence of Jean begin to fill her. But neither pulled away. Both rose on their knees and moved closer, forcing their skin to touch even though their minds screamed at them to break apart. A few seconds more. Jean and Rogue thought in conjunction.
But a few more seconds turned to be too much. Jean stiffened, moaned and slumped into Rogue's arms. Marie finally opened her eyes for the first time since she began her training in Cerebro. Her vision was slow to adjust to the light and when she finally saw the aftermath of their kiss, Rogue gagged in horror.
Their skin, every place that they had touched, was laced with dark, ugly blue veins. Jean was still keeled over in Marie's arms and the skin that still touched was bumpy from upraised veins that pulsated. Rogue dropped Jean onto the ground and backed away. She could feel Jean's memories swirling in her. She knew every memory Jean had up until she lapsed into oblivion. Marie could feel her mind expand as she was suddenly gifted with telepathy and telekinesis. She tried to scan Jean's mind with the stolen telepathy, but either she failed, or there was nothing in Jean's mind. Fearing that Jean might have died, Rogue tried to check for Jean's pulse, but the instant her finger's touched Jean's bare neck, their skin exploded in the blue veins and Rogue snatched her hand back.
Rogue commanded Cerebro's doors opened and ran out to find help, but skidded to a stop as she realized she couldn't leave Jean there by herself. She stood frozen as she debated with herself to run and find help or stay with Jean. She couldn't do either without making her feel things were getting worse, so without a second thought Rogue clenched her eyes shut, balled her fists and screamed out with her mind.
HELP ME!
The mental scream reverberated through the minds of everyone in the Mansion and the Mansion shook as a telekinetic shock wave rippled out from Rogue.
(Okay... I have to sleep! It's 1am and I worked till 10:30 PM without dinner! Don't kill me for leaving it like this! I had to make it angsty! ... and I'm so tired. I can't type properly anymore. I'll probably read this tomorrow and realize the hideous typos I've made. Thank god for spell check. I'll continue tomorrow okay?)