Dust and Blood

Legal Stuff: Don't own them, only borrowing them.

Rating: Not intended for children, story does contain mature subject matter. Injury and femslash.

000

The movie theater was dark and almost completely empty. Rogue sat in the top left hand corner with Jean, a few other people dotted the seats in the rows in front of them. 3 rows sat between the girls and any of the closest residents of the theater. On screen some love struck guy chased around an unlikely and difficult romantic conquest. Of course the girls were not paying any attention; they knew he'd get the girl in the end. Instead they were too busy kissing and groping in the darkness. Their lips suckled and plucked at each other, devouring each other in a passionate game. Curious and inexperience hands explored the upper torsos of each girl. Rogue's hand gently grasped and squeezed Jean's right breast. Jean whimpered softly into the kiss, her nipple stiffened as rogue's palm brushed over it. Rogue felt the reaction and gently squeezed again, causing Jean to moan softly.

"shhhh, you're gonna get us caught with all that noise!" Rogue chuckled and Jean blushed.

"Well if you'd quit touching me I wouldn't moan" Jean countered.

"Is that what you really want?" to emphasize her point Rogue once more cupped Jean's firm breast and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Mmmm nooooo." Jean leant forward and captured Rogue's lips again.

000

Rogue opened her eyes and blinked. She groaned and rolled over breathing a sigh. "Damn!" She sighed again and swallowed hard. Her throat was dry, her body was covered in a light sheen of sweat, and she had a throbbing heat between her thighs that just wouldn't go away. "Damn!" she repeated. Kitty looked over.

"Must have been some dream." She chided. Rogue just groaned.

"Not like you don't have them… I swear if I hear you moan Kurt's name one more time I am gonna feed you you're pillow." Rogue slowly stood to find the washroom in the dark. Kitty just laughed.

000

Jean and Rogue sat in the centre of the danger room talking. They were waiting for Logan and the Professor to arrive to rest their new powers. Recently Rogue has learned during a basketball game that she also had stolen the ability to fly. It didn't really affect Jean because even without the Phoenix Jean could fly with her telekinesis.

"Ok girls." Xavier's voice boomed form the PA above them. "ready to test your new gifts?" Both girls stood up and dusted off. Both raised their hands and gave the professor the thumbs up. The professor nodded and pressed a few buttons. He decided a familiar setting for the test would be appropriate. The danger room hummed and buzzed. A terrain slowly appeared under their feet. Objects began to materialize before them. A fully interactive and realistic setting was created. The girls could manipulate the objects. Lift them, throw them etc. As enemies the professor used fictional mutant sims he had constructed from ideas taken from other mutants powers. The sims however remained featureless silver drones designed to fight the students and help them practice their powers in combat settings.

Rogue was the first to be attacked, the sim came flying at her from over a picnic table, its foot aimed at her head. With cat like reflexes she gracefully jumped to the side and grabbed its ankle mid air, she tossed it easily to the side. It crashed against a tree and disappeared.

"JEAN!" Rogue pointed behind the other girl. Jean quickly whipped around and stopped a sim where it stood with her telekinesis. She also easily tossed it aside, it crashed and disappeared.

"Is that all professor?" Jean laughed. He smiled and pressed a few more buttons sending a group of 4 sims at the girls. They stood back to back ready for whatever was going to come. These sims each having their own unique power stood back a little. One's fists lit on fire, the other was secreting greenish sticky goop, another was able to shoot energy from its fingers, and the last one could create force fields. Rogue ducked a blow from a flaming fist and leapt forward grabbing the sim and flying high into the air with it as it kicked and struggled. Jean used her telekinesis to grab onto goopy one and the laser sim and slam them together. The laser sim tried to get away thus dragging the goopy one all over the danger room. Then Jean turned her attention to the one protecting itself. She sent blast after blast of telekinetic energy at it to weaken its shield. From above Rogue dropped the flaming sim onto it. Both disappeared as did the other two.

Impressed with their progress the professor upped the scales a bit. When Jean's own power was yet to be seen after defeating another round of sims he again made the challenge tougher.

"You sure that's a good idea Chuck?" Logan asked. "They look pretty tired."

"I see that Logan, but Jean has yet to reveal the Phoenix. I am wondering if she can at all." The professor explained. Logan just nodded.

The girls were backed into a corner fighting off wave after wave of sims. The once schoolyard was destroyed beyond repair. Rogue had basically thrown everything she could get her hands on at enemies including tables, trash cans and trees. She currently was swinging a tree like a baseball bat, but her strength was weakening. Jean was also tiring. Her body was beginning to quiver and sweat was running down her brow.

"Rogue…. I don't know how much more I can take." She panted.

"I know… me too." Rogue tossed the tree and stepped back to Jean too tired to swing the tree any longer.

The girls soon separated with being over run by the sims. Swarmed perhaps would be a better word. The girls could not see each other and were filled with a sense of desperation. Fighting like this was their last fight ever, fighting for survival like they did in that cave. Jean began to panic, she was too tired to use her powers. Her heart began to pound. Her body quivered and became hot. She just wanted it to be over, she just wanted the sims to be gone. She could feel it welling up inside her, a second wind perhaps, a boost of energy. As the sims closed in Jean closed her eyes and screamed.

"STOP!" Her body flushed with heat. Her words were unheard by anyone else in the room, masked by the ear piercing screech of the Phoenix. The entire mansion shook and quaked under the force of the magnificent creature's power. All of the sims were easily dispatched. Projectors from the ceiling came crashing down making the room once again of cold steel. The lights exploded showering the girls in glass and sparks. Panels cracked and crumpled under the voice of the sound. The glass of the viewing room spider webbed. The panels became unresponsive and sparks flew out of the mechanics. Logan quickly hauled the Professor to safety. The danger room lay in ruins, the shape of a bird scorched into the floor where Jean lay. Rogue surprisingly unharmed sat beside her on the floor cradling Jean gently.

000

"Well Jean" Beast began, "You're in top working order. Your ordeal in the danger room left no damage at all. I suspect you're just tired from using your gifts so much. You should have a nice relaxing night." Jean smiled and nodded.

"Thank Beast, I appreciate it." She turned to Rogue and smiled. "See, I'm ok." Rogue smiled back. The professor had already come to apologize for pushing them so hard. All was forgiven and there were no bad feelings.

"So, how about that dinner we spoke of?" Rogue grinned and offered her hand to Jean.

"I would love dinner… I am starved!" Jean took the goth girl's hand and strolled out of the lab and down the hall.

000

Rogue lit the two candles in the centre of the table. She and Jean had been planning a dinner for the two of them for a while now. They planned it on a night that Scott would be away. He didn't react very well when Jean broke the news, but he cared for her enough to let her make her own decisions and wished her all the best. Still they did not want to hurt his feelings by parading their romance around in front of him. Their dinner was held on the mansions property quite a bit away from the school by a nice apple grove.

Rogue had set up a small two person table and carried the meal out herself. Rogue had them prepared two cornish hens with fingerling potatoes roasted with garlic and a nice spinach salad. The professor had even let them have a glass of wine each. After that it was water or soda. Jean sat at the table blinded folded as Rogue got everything prepared.

"Can I look now?" Jean whinned.

"Not yet…" Rogue laid a napkin over Jeans lap and then took her seat across from Jean. "Ok… now you can look." Rogue smiled.

Jean slowly removed her blindfold and gasped softly. "Oh wow…" Before her sat three roses, a red, a pink and a white one tied together with a red ribbon. "They are beautiful." She lifted them and inhaled their scent. "Lovely. Thank you so much!" Jean smiled and placed them in the vase that Rogue had provided.

"I hope you enjoy dinner… I wasn't sure exactly what you would like but I asked around… and of course save room for desert... I have a surprise for you." Rogue just smiled devilishly and winked.

"Can I have a hint?" Jean smiled back.

"Fruit" Rogue replied.

"Fruit?" Jean asked.

"Fruit and… whipped cream." Rogue just grinned and took a bite of her dinner.

Jean smiled again and pondered just what Rogue was up to. Whatever it was she was sure she was going to love it.

000

TBC: Sorry this was so late. I was pretty sick for a while! At least one more coming up!