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Continuity
Interactions
Chapter 4
Out of Control
(Rogue/Scott)
Rogue turned another corner in the endless maze that was known as The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Soon she saw one of the exits near by that lead to the campus grounds.
"Rogue, can I speak to you for a moment?" She turned around to find Scott behind her. His arms were folded across his chest.
"Sure." She walked over to him, "Ah have Security Duty in exactly ten minutes," she flashed him a grin, "Think you'll have enough time?"
"You've been hanging out with Gambit way too long." He was joking, but it might have been hard to tell. There was no amusement in his voice. "Hank has informed me about his invention."
"Yeah?" She said pushing her wrist in his face. "Ain't it pretty?"
"Ahh, yeah. But, you know I would have preferred Hank letting me know about his little side project."
"He wasn't sure it would work at first."
"Still, he could have told me once he was sure, before he gave it to you."
"Why?"
"This is something that the professor should help you deal with. I'm sure this would be of interest to him."
"Professor X has lost interest long ago in helping me with mah powers." She said sounding more resentful then she intended.
"That's not true, and you know it." He said as she tilted her head to the side. "I saw you absorb a couple of the mutants we were fighting earlier. I don't know about everything that takes place between you and the professor during your…sessions. But I do know that he helps you keep control of the voices in your head."
"Ah haven't had a 'session' with the Prof., in ages. Ah can handle the voices on my own. Ah know how." She didn't like Scott asking her question about her mental state; however, deep inside she was glad that it seemed like he cared.
A couple of hours earlier the X-Men were in a battle. While Rogue was distracted, two men came from behind and tried to kill her. It was clear that these mutants dead not do their homework, if they had they would have known not to put their ungloved hands over her mouth. It took mere seconds for her powers to kick in; she absorbed their memories and abilities temporarily. They were not in contact with her long enough to die. Traces of them were still in her head; they will always be there. She did what the Professor taught her to do long ago. She closed her eyes, and made a door in her mind and locked them in there. But she knew that method would not keep them quite long. Her mind had been going crazy for awhile now, the voices were becoming more difficult to control. It was becoming harder for her to sort out her true emotions, but she was too proud to ask anyone for help.
Last thing Ah need is the team thinking Ah'm going insane. Anyway, the voices in mah head seem to be settling down…at least for now.
"Fine, I'll take your word on that. Now, we need to get a few rules straight now that you have the collar…"
"Bracelet." She corrected.
"Bracelet…As longs as you are in your combat gear, your col…bracelet must always be off. You must always be prepared when we are on a mission. Do you understand? Our teammates might touch you without knowing the bracelet is on. I don't want there to be any unnecessary accidents."
"Then why don't Ah just walk around with a big orange pylon on mah head, or a yellow sign around mah neck that reads 'caution'. The bracelet has lights that flash when it is activated. Anyone will be able to tell if they can touch me or not."
"I repeat. When your uniform is on, your bracelet is turned off." He said in his official leader tone.
"Ah hear you, loud and clear." She answered in a muffled voice. And then, to her surprise his face lit up. He had a far away look in his eyes.
"Remember a couple of years ago when you first came to the team?"
"Yeah, Ah remember. Ah wasn't winning any popularity contests."
"True. But what did you expect, after all you were our enemy for awhile…"
"Yeah, and it took me a long time to bond with everyone because of that, especially you." She winked.
"Do you remember the day we called a truce? It was a spring evening and I was brooding outside the gate." She laughed at the memory.
"Oh yeah, our infamous argument. Ah was minding my own business and saw you walking back and forth talking to yourself. Ah was so sure you went mad."
"I just wanted some quite time to myself just so I could work through my problems. And then I saw you, hovering over me with a sympathetic look on your face…"
"Well yeah! Ah was doing mah own thing, sitting on a tree and could hear
you talking about how much your life sucked!"
"I was just so fed up with my powers. Just before I saw you I was doing something…I don't remember what…But my protective glasses fell off. I was on my hands and knees with my eyes closed for a good fifteen minutes looking for them. When I finally found them and put them on, I was frustrated. I went outside to yell, and there you were."
"Ah heard you yelling about how you hate your powers, Ah thought maybe we could relate. So Ah flew down to see you, and you didn't look happy."
"I looked up at you and said, 'What do you want?' And then you said those five notorious words…"
"I know what it's like!" They said in unison with a laugh.
"The look on your face when Ah said that…It was like Ah just insulted your mama."
"Pretend your me for a second. There I was looking at this floating seven-teen year old, popping gum in her mouth, with a walk-man around her neck, telling me she knows what it's like. So I said…"
" 'You don't know a god damn thing!' " She stated in her best Scott impersonation. "And then Ah said, 'Whatever! Ah have it worst then you!'"
"You see, that got me mad, because you were taking away from my right to wallow in self pity. So I yelled, 'You don't know what it's like to wear sunglasses on the cloudiest day in winter and have people stare at you like you're crazy!' " He laughed.
"And Ah said, 'You don't know what it's like to wear gloves on the hottest day of summer and have people laugh at you!' " She giggled.
" 'You don't know what it's like to take a shower with your eyes close. The phrase: don't drop the soap, really applies to me.' " He responded still laughing.
" 'You don't know what it's like to go swimming with y'all in a body suit. Being covered from head to toe while trying to cool off in a pool kinda defeats the purpose.' " She added. Soon her laughter stopped, she knew what was coming next.
Scott began his words with the same heartfelt emotion he used long ago when he first spoke them to her.
" 'You don't know what it's like to sleep next to the love of your life in bed and pray that your glasses, even though it's tied down, won't slip off and kill her…' " His voice faded, for he knew Rogue will end the argument with the same words she used long ago to him.
" 'You don't know what it's like to face the very real possibility of sleeping with the other side of the bed empty…for the rest of your life.' " Her eyes lowered to the ground. He remembered what he thought when she first spoke those very words years ago.
Sure she is pretty, in a punk, wacky hair, lanky body, seventeen-year-old sort of way. But what guy would put up with a girl he can't touch? Rogue might very well spend the rest of her life without the kind of love that Jean and I share. Maybe I am the one who really doesn't know what it's like.
His thoughts then focused to the present
Now, she's a beautiful woman, there's no denying it. With Beast's help she is able to have a regular life; yet there is still a small part of me that wishes she would leave the gloves on. Just because she can touch doesn't mean her problems will just disappear. But for now, as long as she's happy…I'm happy. I'll just have to keep an eye on her.
"I'm really happy for you Rogue. I know you've always wanted this. When you finally decide to operate the system, be sure to save a hug for me." And with that he turned and headed around the corner.
Now that, was unexpected. Ol' Cyke wants me to save him a hug.
She stood leaning against the outside door. The grandfather clock struck 11 o'clock; she took flight into the nights sky.
Sneak Attack
(Rogue/Logan)
After flying seven loops around the estate, Rogue finally landed on the grass. It was a summer night, however there was a nice cool breeze. She was a good distance from the mansion, but it was still in plain sight.
Her mind seemed almost normal now. The voices in her head were nothing more then whispers.
Better havin' the voices whisper instead of yell. She thought with a shrug.
As she walked she reached down and plucked a long blade of grass from the ground and slid it into her mouth.
Out of the bushes jumped a dark figure. Before Rogue could react she was faced down on the ground. Normally an attack like this would not have phased her. This time however, her attacker waited until she was off balance before he made his move. Two firm hands roughly turned her over on her back. Sitting on her pelvis, with a sneer across his face was Wolverine.
"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your head up?" He said with a husky voice. He was teasing her, but she wanted no part of it.
"Get offa me, Logan!" Before he could move she shoved him hard with her super strength. He fell off of her and did a back roll onto his feet in a swift motion.
"Last time I checked, you were supposed to be on duty." He said as she lifted herself off the grass and dusted her uniform.
"Ah am on duty." She said stubbornly; she could feel a lecture coming on.
"You should be paying more attention to your surroundings instead of picking food off the ground." With that said he pulled the long blade of grass that still lay between her lips.
"Hey, Ah wasn't finished with that!"
"You are now." He dashed the blade on the ground. "How many times do I have to tell you, just because you have strength doesn't mean you can bluff your way through life."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes.
"It's obvious you haven't been keepin' up with your karate lessons."
"Karate?"
Her mind drifted off to the good old days, when she thought Wolverine was a god and she was his little sidekick. Whenever they had time off he would teach her martial arts.
Ah remember those days. Wolvie would always say 'Don't use your strength as a crutch, there are more ways to get out of a dangerous situation then throwin' people clear a cross the sky'. That may be true, but what he doesn't know is, flicking bad guys away like flies is damn fun! And so, after a couple of lessons, Ah just lost interest.
"Ah can handle mahself Wolvie; Ah'm not your li'l protégé anymore." She saw a slight change in his face. Ain't that interesting. He seems hurt by that comment. "Shouldn't you be on the eastside estate grounds keepin' guard, instead of buggin' me?"
"The eastside is clear for miles darlin', you can be sure of that." He looked her over. "When did you start wearing jewelry with your uniform?" Rogue almost forgot about her bracelet.
"Haven't you heard?" She walked closer to him. "Beast rearranged a Genosha collar to make this. It will negate mah mutant powers."
"Really?" He sounded suspicious, and stepped inches from her. "You never told me Beast was makin' this for you."
"That's because Ah didn't know. He surprised me with it today."
"Oh, now it all makes sense." He said while nodding his head slowly.
"What? What makes sense?"
"I knew you could not have been the person to ask Beast to help you with your powers." She started to get frustrated.
"Ah know you have somethin' on your mind. Just say it, Logan."
"You can't fool me, kid. You've got everyone here believing your sob story." He then began to mock her with a southern accent. "Ah can't control mah powers. All Ah wanna do is touch someone. No one will ever love me!" He stopped to see the fire burning in her eyes.
There's the spark. I never get tired of seeing it. She's been wallowin' in self-pity for far too long. Part of it is my fault I guess 'cause I let her do it. But not anymore, as it says somewhere in the Bible, 'The Truth Shall Set You Free!' He turned back to his rough voice.
"Like I said before, you can't fool me, kid." Rogue grabbed Logan by his uniform and pulled him so close that his nose was mere millimeters from her nose.
"Fuck you, old man!" Her voice was harsh, almost demon sounding.
Normally, if someone were to do this to the Canadian, they would either be knocked out cold or shredded by now…Rogue knew this, she had seen it happen…but she also knew Logan allowed her more lee way then he would others.
Ah've touched him a lot, he's been in mah head, Ah know how far Ah can push him. But he knows me, he knows that what he said would push me too far.
"Watch yer mouth…" His voice was low, almost a growl. "And let me go." He was dead serious, but she still held on. "Don't make me ask you twice." He warned. Reluctantly she let go, still standing her ground.
"Listen…Bub!" She brushed her hair from her face, "You of all people know how Ah struggle with my mutation. You'll never know how it feels to walk into a room filled with mutant outcast and see them try their best to include you, but flinch every time you move your gloved hand. Ah'm not stupid, Ah've lived with this power long enough to avoid flesh contact…" Her tone became softer as she continued.
"You do it to, yah know. You try hard to hide it, even Ah don't notice it sometimes, but you do…flinch." She almost whispered the last word as she looked off into the distance. If Logan did not have heighten senses, he would not have heard it.
"You're right I do. I never knew you could tell. But we don't all flinch. Gambit doesn't flinch." The mentioning of his name brought her eyes back to him; her blood began to heat up.
"Don't you start…" She warned waving her index finger.
"I see the way he approaches you. When your together he acts as if nothin' is different about you, there is no hesitation, no fear…"
"Yeah, because he's crazy! Ah am different, he should hesitate, he should fear me. He's too careless! Ah have to work over time when Ah'm near him. Ah have to be careful for the both of us."
"So what is it you want us to do? Treat you like everyone else, or treat you like you got the cooties. You can't have it both ways!"
"What Ah want is…" Her voice trailed off into silence.
"That's your problem, you don't know what you want. That's why you keep pushing the Cajun away." Ahh, now we've reached part of the problem.
"You don't know shit! You think you do, but you don't." Hell, Ah hate when he tries to play shrink.
"Ah push Remy away because it all comes down to one thing with him…sex!" He rolled his eyes; it's clear to her that he was not buying it. "Ah've had enough men in my head to know how they act and what they want. Hell, Ah've had you in my head. Ah know you hate the feel of getting oral through a condom. You did it once then stopped because it wasn't necessary on a count of your healing factor and all." She smiled as Logan looked away. "Am Ah makin' you blush, sugah?" He looked at her again. There was no way he would let her get off the hook tonight.
"I have no problem using a condom while doin' it the old fashion way."
"What?"
"You don't need flesh-to-flesh contact to have intercourse. Shit! I'm sure Gumbo has ideas, if you could bring yourself to ask him. If you really wanted to you would have done a little research. All you need is some sheets, he could wear a condom, or you could wear a diaphragm…" To his surprise she started to laugh.
"Ah'm a virgin, Logan!" She yelled throwing her hands in the air. He started to clap, slowly.
"Congratulations!" He said sarcastically, "What do you want, a medal?" This is a bit of a shock. I heard she had sex with Gambit in the cave only when they thought they were gonna die. Maybe it was just gossip. So she's a virgin, that doesn't change anything I just said. If anything, it only confirms my theory about the situation.
"Listen. Ah am a virgin. Ah am invulnerable. That means Remy can never penetrate me naturally, no matter what he's wearing. You would have to be there and use your claws and carve a hole in my vagina, and excuse me if Ah don't want to be sliced down there…or take it up the ass!" She saw the realization sink through him.
"Guess I didn't think about that." No, I didn't. Along with her super strength, came a super strength hymen. This girl is walking around with a chastity belt!
Okay, so maybe she couldn't have intercourse. And maybe she can't give him good oral sex. But she could have stuff done to her; the Cajun would have been more then willing. Hell, she could do stuff to herself and have him watch. I know they've never done any of that. And she never will, not even with that bracelet. And I know why. But you can't help those that don't wanna be helped. Gambit has no idea what he's gotten himself into. "I'm goin' back to my post." He turned to leave.
"Wait a sec!" He stopped but did not turn around. "You think, maybe you can start teaching me karate again?" Her voice was soft, contrary to the voice she used to curse him minutes before. Twisting her bracelet she waited for the answer.
"Anytime you're ready." She couldn't see the smile creep across his face. I doubt she knows it, but this is a huge step forward. Maybe there's still hope for you yet, kid.
In an instant, he disappeared from her sight.
******
Author's Note: Hey, Hey!!! You've just completed chapter 4!
I've always thought that Scott and Rogue could have built on a closer relationship being the only two people on the team that couldn't control their powers. They will have more opportunities to talk later on and expand on their connection. The story between Scott and Rogue never really happened in the comics. A lot of things that I refer to in this story as flash backs never really happened in the comics.
The thing I like about Logan is he calls it like he sees it. With Logan you get the truth from him, no b.s. What do you think about Rogue's invulnerability preventing her from having sexual intercourse? And you all thought it was because of her absorption powers, lol. This was a really fun scene for me to write. As you can tell, there will be more scenes between Logan and Rogue.
I'll update 2 times during this week and write more on the weekend. Keep reviewing so I know what you think, and so I know you haven't lost the story.
Next Time: Ororo and Remy get real friendly while Bobby gets really friendly with Rogue. ::wink, wink::…