Thank you to all of my reviewers. I'd give individual responses, but you're lucky to get an update at all. I probably won't update again for a while. We'll see. Thanks for being patient with me.

Rogue shot up in the bed she shared with Remy, awoken by a nightmare. She was walking down a dark hallway when she turned into a room. Inside laid a handsome red-haired man. She expected to see breathing coming from John, but he was completely motionless. He was gone.

Terrified that the dream was true, Rogue threw her legs over the side of the bed, only to be caught by her lover.

"What's de matter, petite?" the Cajun asked, full of concern.

"Ah just had a nightmare, sugah. That's all. Ah'm gonna go down to the kitchen for a snack," she answered. It wasn't entirely a lie. She did plan on grabbing something to eat on her way down to the med-lab.

Rogue walked down the steps silently, not wanting to wake anyone else, singing a song quietly. It reminded her of John.


To cry is to know that you're alive
But my river of tears has run dry
I never wanted to fool you, no
But a cold heart is a dead heart
And it feels like I've been buried alive by love

If I should die before I wake
Pray no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
Rescue me with your smile


As she sang, a tear streaked down her cheek. She prayed that John would wake before he died, though it was unlikely. She felt guilty; she has Remy after all. But still, John was her best friend. He helped her when he didn't have to. Rogue would give anything just to talk to him again.

She finally reached the door that she never had managed to open before. She didn't know if she could bring herself to open it this time, but the vision of John dead was far to powerful to keep her away. She needed to be sure he was ok.

Rogue grasped the handle, turned it, and pulled the door open. The room was dark except the green light coming from a machine that kept the pyromaniac alive. It glowed on his skin, allowing her to see his face barely, but it wasn't bright enough to show him completely and if he was breathing. She flipped the switch next to the door and florescent lights turn on.

John's chest was slowly rising and falling. She crept closer, turning to look at the machine. The heart monitor showed his steady pulse. Rogue sighed with relief and sat down in a chair next to the bed. She didn't realize it, but she was still crying.

As Rogue watched the almost motionless Pyro, she was tempted to touch his skin. She had only done so when she had her powers, so now she could actually take the time to feel it. Slowly, she reached her hand towards his and grasped it. It felt rough, from all of the combat he'd seen, but still it was comforting. Suddenly, the heart monitor sped up, not enough to be dangerous. Rogue felt her heart sped up as well. 'What is going on?' she thought to herself.

You know when you see someone you love, how your heart speeds up? That was the speed of John's pulse. Rogue watched the machine, afraid that she might be hurting John.

Someone knocked on the door behind her. She turned to find Remy.

"Goin to get a snack, chere?"

"Ah was goin to on mah way back," she insisted.

"You here because of dat nightmare you had?" he asked, though knowing the answer already. Last time she attempted coming down her, she had a nightmare. She nodded in reply. "Petite, dere's nothin you can do. Come back to bed."

"Ah'll be there in just a second, Remy," she answered. He sighed and walked back to his room. He was worried about her nightmares, even though there was nothing he could do about them. He still worried about her constantly.

Rogue turned to look at John one last time before she left. His heart was still racing. She gently let go of his hand; his pulse slowly returned to normal. She raised her eyebrows in question, but turned and left the room, turning off the light and closing the door. She decided she would visit him more often. She owed him at least that, since there was nothing else she could give the comatose Pyro.