The X-Corp Chronicles
Part 3: A Rogue in the Hand is Worth Two in the Mind (or 'He said, she said')
The flick-click of John's Zippo continued for a minute or two until Bobby was about to open his mouth to speak. However before even a word fell from his lips, Rogue began verbally assaulting their former comrade. "What the hell are you doing here, John? You're the enemy now! You nearly killed Bobby, fought alongside Magneto and killed lots of people!" John merely rolled his eyes in dismissal. "Those cops would have wasted us if I hadn't blasted them all to hell. Besides…most of them lived. So I made a few mistakes. I don't suppose you had any major screw-ups lately? A 'slip of the tongue' maybe?" He made sure to emphasize 'tongue' with plenty of venom and spite.
Rogue grew more infuriated at John's audacity to bring up her choice to take the 'cure' and severely harming Bobby. "So what now? You're all reformed and so we're all supposed to forgive you, kiss and make up?" John let his eyes fall upon Bobby, as he slid along the archway. "Well I expected that from at least one person…" "Who?" demanded Rogue. "Who do you think Ms. Suck-your-brains-out? God, I was pretty sure you would have figured it out sooner or later. What with you unceremoniously putting my fire out back in Boston. Honestly, making with the 'Oh poor me, I can't touch anybody or they'll die' routine and just running away from your mutation, it's pathetic. No mutant in their right mind would wish that upon another. Right, Bobby?" he added with a slight pout. Rogue immediately turned her glare to Bobby, who seemed rather receptive to John's advances. "Bobby! Are you going to let him talk about us like that?" "You. Rogue. I was referring only to you. Bobby at least made the effort to knock some sense into me back on Alcatraz." John said rubbing his forehead a bit. "And he did. And where were you in all this time? Oh right… you were getting 'cured." John turned to face Rogue and Bobby. "You see…I prefer to be on the winning side. It just so happens to be this side. Plus, this side has some benefits…a better view for instance," mused John as he slightly adjusted his line of vision to home in on Bobby's ass. Bobby merely blushed, totally flabbergasted as he began to succumb to John's charms.
Rogue, fully aware of John's intentions…and Bobby's weaknesses, decided to take matters into her own hands…literally. "Oh NO you don't! You stay away from Bobby!" and with that she spun about and quickly seized Emma's hand. Emma's eyes widened in pain and horror as her powers were being stripped. She fell to the floor unconscious as Rogue employed her new stolen power to psychically attack John. John began convulsing and writhing on the floor, screaming at the searing pain that tore at his mind. Storm snapped into action and tried to use gusts of wind to break Rogue's concentration. This only served to annoy and anger Rogue as she turned a psychic bolt toward Storm, slamming her into the doors. Bobby tried to bull rush Rogue into a wall hoping that would at least disengage her. Instead, he was restrained. Wires and cords bound his arms and legs. Screens began flashing on and off, the equipment around them shook and overloaded. Rogue's eyes were disoriented, confused. It was obvious that she was not able to fully control Emma's powers. An intense sharp pain stabbed into Rogue, shocking her system, and she fell to the floor. Behind her, Cecil had his hand outstretched. All the monitors exploded and the equipment fell to the floor lifeless. "Well that was unpleasant," sighed Cecil, surveying the devastation caused. " It appears our Marie was out for blood. John, any thoughts as to why?"
"Hey, the bitch just tried to fry my brain! Just because she knew 'her man' and I go way back." He shot back. 'Don't try to hide the truth, John. Your thoughts were made very clear when Rogue absorbed Emma's powers. She was randomly projecting, practically screaming parts of the minds she absorbed long ago…including yours.' Said Cecil telepathically as he telekinetically lifted Emma and Ororo onto beds. John looked over to Bobby as Bobby was propping Rogue up. 'Figures' he thought. 'If you want him, John, you're going to have to play by the rules. Rule 1 – No fighting with your competition. It only serves to force him to cling to Marie.' 'Why are you telling me this?' thought John. 'I've always had the desire to play matchmaker now and again'.
Flashback timeAs Phoenix caused senseless destruction around her, John had managed to regain consciousness long enough to crawl out to the shore of the island. As his comrades disintegrated around him, he felt a pang of guilt, and a twinge of pity as he dragged himself away from the carnage. Survival on the other hand, was a greater driving force for him right now. Somehow, he managed to get far enough away so that the only thing he needed to contend with was the massive amount of water swirling around the island. His thoughts were cut short however as the water descended all around him. He clung to a large plank of wood as he was swept out into the bay. It was out there that he once again got hit in the head with a piece of debris from the crumbling island.
Opening his eyes, John gazed up into the steely eyes of a dark-skinned man as he tried desperately to figure out what happened to him. "It is good that you have revived," finally spoke Forge. "I am Forge, a mutant, like yourself." "Where am I? What happened?" asked John. "You were rescued from the sea by Kurt here." Forge motioned to the blue mutant who Bamf'd to John's bedside from across the room. "Gutentag, John." Greeted Nightcrawler. John's eyes filled with mirth as he lay his head back and laughed with more humor than he thought possible at his situation, the sheer ridiculousness of being saved by an old ally, and now apparently in the lair of yet another group of mutants. "Hi, Kurt," replied John between dying chuckles. "Ze Professor had sent me here to help Forge form a team of mutants to aid ze government and I agreed as it would be part of my repentance. Forge calls it 'X-Factor'… Kurt's eyes cast down "I heard about ze professor's death, however. Never have I ever prayed so hard for ze strength to endure such a loss of a great man."
With those honest words, the magnitude of Xavier's death finally hit John like an earthquake, shaking him to his core. He could have sworn he could still hear the Professor's voice in his head. 'And the next time you feel like showing off…don't.' His own words echoed in his mind 'You always do as you're told?' As if the Alkali dam had burst in his mind, all of his emotions came flooding in…all the repression, the resentment… the unrequited feelings… he wept unashamedly, holding himself steady against Kurt, who continued to recite his prayers as he cradled John.
He had finally completed his cycle of catharsis when he suddenly asked. "Kurt, how did you know I was out there? Why did you save me?" "Because…I told him to…" spoke a shadow from a corner of the room. Out wheeled Cecil along with Emma Frost. "I think it's time we took you home, John."
End flashbackA few days later, after amends were made and apologies extended, however insincere, Rogue decided to go into counseling with Emma (mostly to convince Bobby that she wouldn't lash out like that again), and Emma agreed…with the half-joking stipulation that Rogue try not to absorb her psionics again.
"It's just not fair. I wanted to give Bobby 'normal'. So I got cured so I could touch him…" recounted Rogue. Emma merely nodded as Rogue blathered on and on. "…I mean, I know they were best friends, but John wants more from Bobby. I can't handle that." "Do you believe Bobby returns John's feelings?" inquired Emma. Rogue hesitated in replying. Mostly because she knew that Bobby did indeed harbor feelings for his pyro-maniacal friend. "I take it by your silence that you believe he does," supplied Emma. "No!" cried Rogue. "He doesn't! He's a guy. He's not supposed to feel that way." "Do you really believe that, Rogue?" Emma asked gently. "After all, you did absorb parts of both their minds. Their feelings must have been made known to you before. In a way, you're a better judge of that than either of them." Rogue took a deep breath in resignation as she thought to herself. 'This is going to be one long session.'
Meanwhile…
"While Rogue's actions were inexcusable, I cannot approve of your taunting and goading her, John," lectured Storm. "After all, she loves Bobby. It was only natural that she'd lash out at you for…" Storm decided to choose her words wisely "…expressing your interest." "Interest?" keened John. "Interest is playing video games and basketball. I love Bobby." "Then why did you try to kill him on Alcatraz?" John looked away, out the window. "John?"
He watched as Piotr and Warren were playing basketball. As Piotr was about to score a basket, Warren had unfurled his wings to knock the ball back, and rebound it. Piotr gave a warning look to Warren before his steely façade cracked as he laughed. John sighed, "I remember when Bobby and I used to play basketball like that." Storm's eyes followed John's to the scene unfolding outside. "We would throw ourselves at each other on the court. We didn't care how it looked to everyone else. We were each determined to win. I saw that passion in his eyes. He saw the fire in mine… so to speak. We grew to love that about each other. I mean… to have someone you could throw everything you had against, your love, your hate, your anger, your rage… and at the end of the day, you'd still be best friends…and go home together." John faced Storm for a moment eyes never quite meeting, though. "I mean… sure I had the attitude problem, and he was always the model student… but there were those moments when it would just be all about that… drive…that connection" Storm was altogether surprised at John's eloquence and honesty. He snorted again.
"Then Rogue came along. Sure, she was cool and all… but she always had that 'outsider' vibe. Like she was always looking in from the outside. That routine got old…really fast. But sure enough, Bobby had to go to her…" John sighed and still refused to let his eyes meet Storm's. "Then at Alkali Lake, I tried to get Bobby to come with me to go help Logan. After all, he's hot, and I wanted to seriously deal out some hurt. And yet… he decided to be a good boy and stay behind. So I left him. Silently, as I looked down into his eyes, I promised him we'd meet again as I left with Magneto." John stood up. "So there's your psychoanalysis, Ms Munroe. That's why I went after Bobby at Alcatraz." He finally turned to fully face her, with piercing eyes that bore into Storm's soul, and his gaze only hardened. "I wanted that passion again. That intimacy. I figured this was the only way…"
On the other side of the offices…
Cecil was having a similar talk with Bobby in his office. "I know that much has just transpired in a relatively brief period of time…but it's alright to feel lost. You needn't try and gloss over it with a sheet of icy control. After all, the unresolved feelings you have for John-" For the first time in his life, Bobby snapped up and turned his eyes upon a teacher with a look of enraged defiance. "You can read minds, why don't you just talk to me up here?" he interrupted as he tapped his head. Cecil was only slightly taken aback by Bobby's sudden burst of upstart-ness. "Because talking is still very important to you, Bobby. And it helps to speak aloud about your feelings." "I don't need therapy… or anything from you for that matter." Spat Bobby. "I never said you did. I merely suggested that you at least hash out your feelings before they either tear you apart from the inside, or you end up freezing them up permanently." Cecil wheeled back behind his desk. "There are many people in the world that do well in sublimating and internalizing their pain and their anguish…" he turned to Bobby. "You are most certainly not one of these." Bobby merely rolled his eyes and turned away. "I'll give you time to try and sort this out for yourself. But should you need someone to talk to, Storm, Emma or I would be more than happy to be here for you. I know I'm not the Professor, but my dedication to the students is no less than absolute, as his was. You're free to go." Bobby stood and exited the office, not making eye contact with Cecil all the while.
Far be it for me to judge right now, or use vernacular, Cecil…but 'smooth'…I just hope he'll be able to work through these revelations he's having.
"He will, Charles. But in the meantime…we have many more students to help. I understand Kitty Pryde is still homesick. Warren is dealing with his feelings for Piotr… and his secret attraction to Bobby… Piotr on the other hand, is dealing with his feelings for Logan… Marie is conflicted between her feelings for Bobby, her subsequent hatred for John, and her long repressed unrequited feelings for Logan… Scott in the meantime is still recovering from the loss of Jean… Logan is dealing with his wracking guilt… it all gives me a headache trying to keep track of this entire 'high school drama'."
I personally found it helpful to just take it all one case at a time, regardless of how the inter-student dynamics play out.
Cecil only sighed and shook his head. "Where did you find the strength to do this, Charles? Even by combining our empathic abilities, all of this is extremely taxing…hearing over a hundred voices…trying so desperately to help them all…"
…while trying to teach them valuable life lessons…yes. I understand. But you do have to realize that even I didn't try to help each and every student fix their problems overnight.
Cecil only nodded to himself. He turned to the window to face the basketball court, seeing Warren and Piotr come inside to the kitchens, and like clockwork, seeing John and Bobby run into each other…each running from the opposite ends of the offices. Cecil smiled to himself. "I think I need a snack…and box seats to today's after-school special on the court…"
(Pants) Whoo… I'm cranking these chapters out like play dough spaghetti hair! I'll probably slow to about a chapter every few days to a week.
Anyways… I've been writing this story after having seen X3 only once, so if a few details are a little fuzzy, please forgive me. Next chapter will feature Logan, probably more Scott, Warren, and Piotr… and of course Bobby and John!
Should you post a review, please let me know if I should redeem Rogue or if I should just run her into the ground. After all, Bobby and John could use someone who understood them both…or a constant petty nemesis… whichever.
So please choose one of the following Rogues for me to write more of:
Hugsandkisses!Rogue
Skank!Rogue
Bitch!Rogue
Quiet/Catatonic!Rogue
Ubersad/Apologetic!Rogue
Sorry, no foreshadowing quote this time… maybe next time!
(Mojo: The hit numbers for such a shortspan of timeare going through the roof! I'm getting numbers that mathamaticians have never heard of!)
