"Okay. What would you say if I offered you a chance to be able to touch, and not have to worry about your powers ever again?" Jean asked.
Rogue glared at Jean. "You're joking right? This is ah pretty cruel joke, Jean!" Rogue said angrily.
Jean's face continued to look serious. "No joke." Rogue's jaw practically dropped to the floor.
"You- but- how?" Rogue stammered. She was flabbergasted. She loved the idea of not having to worry about her powers, but she had no idea how Jean could be able to help her with it.
"Let's just say that I found a device that will let us switch bodies," Jean explained. "You'll be able to have a normal relationship with Remmy."
Rogue looked at her suspiciously. She put one hand on her hip, and her other was pointing to Jean. "So, you want to switch bodies with me?" Rogue asked, using her hand to point towards Jean, then at herself. When Jean nodded, Rogue asked, "But why?"
"The only answer I can give right now, is that I think you deserve to have a normal life," Jean explained. For a minute, Rogue didn't reply. She looked like she was deep in thought, so Jean went against Rogue's wishes and read her thoughts.
'To be able tah touch Remmy? It'd be great tah stop having tah worry 'bout mah powers. But ah'd have tah look like Jean for the rest of mah life? Or until Jean realises that mah powers are dangerous and decides tah change back. Ah just cant do that. It's cruel tah give me ah life, then take it away just as quickly. Ah'd rather live with my powers, never knowing what I'm missing. But then again, AH just want tah be able tah hold Remmy, without gloves..' Rogue thought.
"Jean, thanks for the offer, but.. ah just cant," Rogue mumbled. She turned around. "Thanks for caring though," Rogue whispered before heading down the hallway. It was the first time Jean had ever heard Rogue genuinely thank anybody.
Rogue made her way to the front door. Outside, Gambit was on his motorcycle, waiting for Rogue. She saw him smoking, and was thankful that Logan wasn't there to see it. Even though Logan was known to have a cigar now and then, the students weren't allowed to smoke. Remmy saw Rogue exiting the house and he threw his cigarette to the ground. He picked up the spare black helmet off the back of his motorbike and held it out.
"Morning Cherie. What took you so long?" He asked. Rogue took the helmet and jumped on the back of the motorbike. "What's wrong Cherie?" He asked. Rogue wrapped one arm tightly around his waist and the other higher up, under his arm and around his chest.
"Nothing's wrong sugar. Let's get going, we're going tah be late for school," She replied. Gambit started up the motorcycle.
"Whatever you say petite, but you keep hugging Gambit like that, he might not want to go to school," He smiled. He turned his head and smiled at Rogue. "How 'bout you skip school and you keep huggin' Remmy like that," He propositioned.
Rogue smiled and hugged him tighter. "How 'bout ah just hug yah while we go to school. Ah got a maths test today, and ah can't miss it," She explained.
Remmy took one hand off the handlebars and put his hand over Rogue's, which was on his chest. "Whatever you say Cherie." The sounds of Scott's sports car could be heard revving in the garage, then it zoomed out of the grounds and towards school. "Hold on tight Cherie," Gambit instructed. "Cyc just dared Gambit to a race," Remmy smiled as he revved the motorbike.
After Remmy dropped her off at school, Rogue spent the entire day thinking about what Jean had said to her. She tried her hardest to stop thinking about it during her test, but it was a hard thing to stop thinking about the weird offer. She also avoided Jean at lunchtime by sitting by herself on the oval while everyone else sat in the cafeteria. If she accepted Jean's offer, she wouldn't have to live with gloves and her entire body covered up ever again. But then again, she'd have to look like Jean for the rest of her life. By the end of the day, Rogue decided against it, and that it'd probably be best to live her life the way it was now, also sparing Jean from the burden of never being able to touch anyone ever again.
The final bell rang and school had finished. She exited the school grounds and looked around for Remmy and his motorbike, but he wasn't there. 'Stupid ass,' she thought to herself. She was pissed off that he'd forgotten to pick her up, and more pissed off that she had to share a ride with Scott and Jean. 'The perfect couple of 2003. Even though they wont admit it to each other.'
When they got back to the mansion, Rogue started looking for Remmy. After about half an hour, she finally found him in the Danger room. She entered the room that looks down into the Danger room. Remmy was sparring with Logan, although it looked more like Logan was winning, as she saw that all Gambit was doing was dodging Logan's adamantium claws. She pushed the button that turns on the microphone that lets the guys in the danger room hear her.
"REMMY!" She yelled through the microphone. Logan and Remmy didn't seem to be distracted by her yelling. "REMMY!" she yelled again.
"Sorry... petite... cant.. talk.." Remmy said each word between each of Wolverine's attempts to punch him.
Rogue huffed because they didn't stop what they were doing. "Do yah know what time it is Remmy?" She yelled through the microphone again.
Gambit threw a few cards at Wolverine, making Wolverine back off a few steps. Remmy smiled and threw more cards, one by one, making Wolverine back flip away from Gambit. Once Wolverine was far enough, Remmy looked up at Rogue. "Remmy don' exactly have time to look at a clock Cherie!" He replied to the pissed off southern gal. "You got a waaaatch!" Remmy yelled as Wolverine jumped him.
Rogue huffed and left the room. She wanted to tell him off for forgetting to pick her up. But if he didn't realise when he saw her, that he'd lost track of time while sparring with Logan, then there was no point. She also didn't want to sound like the annoying wife, 2 days into the relationship. Instead, she walked to her room and got ready to have a shower. She was rummaging through her draws to look for clean clothes when Kitty came into the room in her Xmen uniform.
"What are yah wearing that for?" Rogue asked.
"We've got another danger room session today, remember? It's Tuesday!" Kitty explained. "Like, don't tell me you forgot again?" Kitty sat on her bed and waited for Rogue to get dressed.
Rogue closed her draw, and headed for the walk-in closet instead. "Ah man! Is it Tuesday already?" She complained, walking into the closet. The open doors blocked Kitty's view of Rogue, but she could tell Rogue was getting dressed for training. "So what's Logan got us doing today?"
"Well, I think he said we've gotta protect the boys today, like what we did the other day," Kitty replied, rubbing her shoulder that got hit with the laser. "If I have to protect Remmy today, he's gonna get it!" Kitty growled.
"Yeah, well ah hope ah don't hafta protect Scott," Rogue complained as she walked out of the closet, fully dressed. She walked to the dresser and picked up a hair tie. "Ah swear, some times it would be easier tah just save time and hit them over the head," Rogue joked. "Okay, ahm ready," Rogue announced and began to tie up her hair as they exited the room.
When the girls entered the danger room, it looked like Remmy and Logan had just finished their session. The room was warm and smelt like sweat. 'Ah hate training after these two! They stink out the room!' Rogue thought to herself. Remmy was sitting on the floor, legs straight out and he was leaning back on his hands. He, along with Logan was topless. That was the only upside to finishing after them, because they'd both work out so hard, that they take their tops off.
Kitty tried her hardest not to hold her nose from the smell. "Like, are we early?" She asked Logan. He was also sitting on the ground, even though it doesn't take very long for him to recover form a strenuous work out. He picked up his T-shirt off the ground and put it on because he felt it might make the girls a little uncomfortable because he was a teacher to them. "Yeah. Scott said he's going to be late, but I don't know why the others aren't here yet," He replied. "You girls might as well start warming up. I'll be in the look-out getting your simulation ready," He explained as he got up and left the room. Remmy was still on the floor, topless, and sweaty. Rogue tried her hardest to look away, but she couldn't help it. And besides, he WAS her boyfriend. Her eyes met with his.
"So ah guess you're going tah miss the next session?" She asked, wishing he wouldn't miss it, especially if he was going to train topless. Remmy wiped his sweaty brow and smiled.
"Maybe, Cherie. It was a tough work out," Remmy replied, but it didn't look like she was listening. He couldn't help but smile as he realised that Rogue was checking him out.
She didn't really listen to Remmy's response, as her eyes wondered down, past his scruffy chin, toned shoulders, down to his sweaty pectorals, which were rising and falling with Remmy's breaths. Down to the bare bumps on his stomach, which disappeared then reappeared as he breathed in and out. Her vision slowly ran over each bump and down to his belly button, following the snail trail and down to..
"See somt'tin you like, Cherie?" Remmy smirked. His voice brought Rogue back to reality and she blushed. She was a bit embarrassed, and that fact made him smile. "Remmy 'tink you want more," He continued in his suave voice.
Rogue composed herself and smiled. "Maybe, swamp rat. Just maybe.." She replied, trying her hardest not to smile as she walked away from Remmy, and towards Kitty who was on the other side of the Danger room warming up.
"Cajun!" Logan could be heard from the look-out. Remmy looked up and could see Logan glaring down at him from the high room. "Stop flirtin'. You're either here for the next session or yer not," Logan commanded. Remmy picked up his black singlet off the ground and tucked it into the waistband of his trackpants.
"Cherie," Remmy called out to Rogue. When she turned to look at him, he blew her a kiss. "Remmy gonna skip 'dis session, but he be watching you from upstairs," He called out before leaving the room.
Kitty and Rogue went back to warming up. "Wow, like, Remmy's got such a good body!" Kitty whispered. Rogue let out a little smile and blushed. She didn't reply, and she didn't need to. Kitty had never seen Rogue acting like this before.
------------------------------------------
Jean put her schoolbag on the floor and lay down on her bed. 'School can be so exhausting!' She knew that there was a danger room session in ten minutes, but she couldn't be bothered. Her mind was racing with everything that had been happening that day. First she read Rogues thoughts before they left for school, then she kept reading them while they were at school. She felt bad for intruding, especially when Rogue keeps yelling at her for it. But Jean felt that she just had to know what Rogue's decision was to the proposal Jean made. Anyone would have a lot on their mind if they were offered the chance to switch bodies. Every chance she could, Jean read Rogue's thoughts. And each time she heard Rogue think that it would be amazing to be able to touch people, but two things bugged Rogue the most. Why would someone willingly want to have Rogue's powers, and could she live the rest of her life looking like Jean, little miss perfect.
'Because she deserves to have a life,' Jean thought to herself. 'But why cant someone else do it? Why cant someone else be Rogue's life boat?'
'Because no one else will do it,' Jean convinced herself. She got up off the bed and walked to her desk. She opened the top draw and picked up the device. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Jean quickly put the device back and closed the draw. "Come in!"
Kitty phased through the door. She was wearing her uniform. "Like, aren't you ready yet?" Kitty exclaimed as she saw Jean wearing her casual clothes.
"Not yet. Don't worry, I wont be late," Jean explained. Kitty nodded and walked back to the door. "Why are you so eager to go to training today?" Jean asked suspiciously. Kitty turned back around and smiled.
"Like, no reason in particular. But I wouldn't mind the chance to get back at Remmy for making me get hit last time!" Kitty replied. "I'm going to go see if Rogue's ready," she said and then phased through the door and out of Jean's room.
Jean mentally laughed at the idea of Kitty, half Remmy's size, trying to kick Remmy's ass.
"Okay, back to business," She told herself. Jean opened the draw and picked up the device. 'Am I going to do it or not?' She asked herself. Her conscience yelled yes's and no's, which made her very confused. Then the answer finally came to her. She smiled and slid the device over her fingers and the three balls lit up momentarily.
At first, Jean worried about where she was going to hide the device. In the end she realised that because her sleeve was long, and ends as a 'V' that wraps around her middle finger, she could put the device on, and her sleeve covers it. When she was happy that the device was covered enough that it wouldn't be noticed, she made her way to the danger room. Halfway to the Danger room, she saw Gambit walking up the hallway, away from the danger room. She noticed that he was topless and she tried not to blush. 'No doubt if Scott was here, he'd probably take his top off, just to compete with him,' she joked to herself.
"Hey Remmy. Aren't you coming to the training session?" Jean asked, trying to look only at Remmy's eyes.
"Non, petite. Remmy had a work out wit' Wolverine," Remmy replied. "But after a nice cold shower, Remmy gonna watch the session."
"Okay," Jean said and finally let herself smile after Remmy walked off. She wished to herself that Scott was nearby, just to get some entertainment as the two guys competed. She giggled to herself at the thought as she continued her way to the danger room.
----------------------------------------------------
To Jean, the session seemed to last forever. Rogue was protecting Spyke from laser beams. Even though she didn't have any powers that allowed her to create telekinetic shields, optic blasts, etc, she was actually doing pretty well. She kept her body in front of Spyke and physically moved him from any blasts that were heading his way. Personally, Jean thought it was unfair to make Rogue participate. Jean wanted to telepathically tell Logan that Rogue knows how to defend herself, but that it was unfair to give Rogue a task where she couldn't fight back. Then again, if Jean did tell Logan, he would've just yelled back, telling her that Rogue's got to learn to deal with all situations. So Jean decided to keep her mouth shut. Jean had to protect Bobby, which was a harder task than she first thought. Bobby kept stepping in the way of the blasts, just to give Jean an even harder time. At one point he put his icy cold hand on Jean's back, giving her such a shock, she dropped her telekinetic shield, which resulted in the two of them getting shot.
Jean had to get close to Rogue, but the opportunity didn't come. Right at the end of the session, the laser beams turned off and began withdrawing back into the wall. Everyone stopped and waited for Logan to enter the Danger room to tell them all what they needed improving on. Jean took this as her chance. She slowly walked towards Rogue. She used her telekinetic powers to remove one of Rogue's glove.
"What tha hell!" Rogue yelled as she watched her left glove slide off her hand. Her yell grabbed the attention of all the others and they watched confused as Jean walked up behind Rogue. Before anyone knew what was going on, Jean grabbed Rogue's arm and held Rogue's bare hand with her hand that had the device. Jean and Rogue felt a surge shoot through their bodies. To everyone else, it looked like they were both being electrocuted, or having ceasures. No one knew what to do to help the girls. Scott tried to separate the girls, thinking that the girls were convulsing because Jean's skin was touching Rogue's. Logan and Remmy entered the room, saw what was going on and ran to the two girls. They helped Scott separate the girls. Both were unconscious, so Scott and Remmy lowered Jean and Rogue to the floor.
Remy lightly patted Rogue's cheek with his gloved hand. "Cherie?.. Rogue?.. Rogue?!" He pleaded.
Kitty ran to the intercom placed on the wall. "Mr McCoy to the danger room! Like, now!" Kitty called, then ran back to Scott's side, who had Jean's head placed on his lap. He was running his hand over her hair in an attempt to comfort the unconscious redhead.
Rogue slowly began to hear someone calling her name. "Rogue! Rogue! Wake up Cherie!" the voice pleaded. She realised it was Remy and tried to open her eyes.
"Remy?" She expected to see Remmy looking into her eyes, but he wasn't. Instead, Scott was looking down at her.
"Jean! I'm so glad you're alright!" Scot exclaimed as he hugged Rogue.
"Jean?" She said confused. Rogue looked over to where Remmy was and she jumped out of Scott's arms at the sight she saw.
Remy was sitting on the floor, with an unconscious Rogue on his lap. He was lightly tapping her cheek. Rogue stood up, nearly knocking Scott in the process. She was terrified. She felt alive and normal, but then why was she seeing herself unconscious in Remmy's arms.
"That's me," Rogue stuttered, pointing to her body. "But.. But ahm here! How can ah be there on the floor!" Rogue stuttered. Remmy turned his attention from the unconscious body to her.
"Cherie?" His face showed confusion as he looked form her to the unconscious body and back again. "But, how?"
"Stripes?" Logan asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Yah," She replied, trying to stop her heart beating so fast. She felt like she was going to have a panic attack. Rogue wrapped her arms around herself to try maintain composure. But something was different. It felt like she wasn't hugging herself. She felt as if she'd lost a few kilos and decreased in a bra size. In confusion, Rogue looked at her hands. "These aren't my hands!" She cried as she looked at the perfectly manicured nails, then looked down onto her body to see Jean's uniform on her. "What the hell is going on!" She yelled!
Author's notes: dw ppl, tthere's a lot more to this story! These chapters are just the 'getting used to' capters.. then it starts to get really good.