Title: A Spark Of Good From The Burn Of Evil
Rating: FRT
Disclaimer: I own Ashley, nothing more. Just the idea.
Spoilers: X1, X2, X3
Summary: Your past is the blueprint for your future. Rogue knew this better than anyone. Future fic. Ryro, slight RoLo, Bobby/Rogue vibes.
Most characters will have a slight bit of OOC, but given the storyline, I don't know how they'd react to this situation.
I changed a few things from the movie, so it's possible AU.
The Past
"Well, fancy meeting you here." Said a voice from behind her.
Rogue sat belly up to the bar on a dingy side street of New York. Cigarette smoke filled the already musty air, and cobwebs covered the flickering lights on the ceiling. A long haired wannabe rocker was singing the most horrific version of 'Love me Tender' by Elvis, and a brawl had just ended over who had won the last game of Pool…not that anyone cared.
It wasn't a spot that Rogue was accustom to hanging out at, but ever since getting the 'cure', she found herself frequenting the anonymity of the bar, and the stale beer. Why she wasn't sure.
Rogue was about three-fourths down her bottle when the voice from her past spoke.
She wasn't all that surprised that he was here, but she was surprised that he would talk to her.
Bobby had told her that they had run into each other when he had looked for her in the vaccination line. Their former friend had seemed appalled by her decision, but that was all Bobby had said.
Rogue just waved him off.
"Leave me alone, John." On any other occasions, she would have liked to see him. She missed him when he defected from the X-Men… from the mansion…from her. But right now, just wasn't the time. She didn't want to hear his snaky remarks and 'told-you-sos'.
"It's Pyro." He corrected. He hadn't heard his given name since he left, and it was NOT a welcomed call.
"Oh, well I'm sorry." Rogue oozed sarcasm. "Leave me alone, Pyro."
"No." he simply replied.
Marie just growled. Sometimes he could be so stubborn. John took her silence as an invite for him to continue. Making himself more relaxed, he sat on the stool beside her and draped his arm over the back rest of hers.
"So, what's a human like you, doing in a place like this?"
Rogue shot him a glare.
"Obviously your listening skills haven't improved during your time with Magneto. I said go away!"
John smirked. "And I said no."
"Fine." Said Rogue as she took the last gulp of the battery acid they called beer and stood up. "Then I will." She turned from the bar, and walked towards the door.
Pyro knew he shouldn't have cared why she was here, or where she was going, but part of him had missed her. It seemed that while he was at the mansion, he had to fight Bobby for her to even look at him. Now, he had her undivided attention. He was also partially concerned about her. Never had he seen her drink alcohol before, no matter how mad, sad, or frustrated she got.
This must be big. Maybe Ice Cube did something? Maybe they broke up?
John felt like a kid at Christmas. The thought the she could be single again made him gleefully happy.
Curiosity got the better of him. Standing up, he heading in the directions she had went.
"Rogue." She head him call from behind her. She was surprised but not avertedly astonished that he had followed. Actually, she was more of touched that he cared about her issues…either that or he just wanted to rub her nose in her misery.
But still, she kept walking. Not entirely trusting herself to fall prey to what could be fake concerns. Though, she realized that her pace had slowed to a lumber.
John quickly caught up to her and grabbed her arm to turn her around.
"Hey, what's buggin' you?"
Marie cocked her head to the side.
"You seem bothered."
Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Is that your gift? The power of observation?" She knew she was being a little harsh; after all he seemed to genuinely want to help, unlike so many others.
"Ok. You know what, never mind. I just thought you'd want someone to listen, or at least rant at." He shrugged and tuned away. "I guess not."
John got maybe one foot away before her voice stopped him.
"Pyro?"
His mutant name sound complete foreign to him this time. In the bar she was annoyed and would do anything to get rid of him, now she was basically asking for company. He thinks he preferred her calling him by his real name. It sounded quite timid and weak. And he liked that.
He turned around to find her hugging herself and looking at the ground.
"I'm sorry. I guess I could use someone to talk to." She looked at him and gave those doe eyes that he always found irrespirable. This girl knew all the tricks, even if she didn't know it.
"Good. Now what'd ya say we go find somewhere more private." He wasn't entirely sure of why he suggested more private, but he must have for a reason.
Maybe subconsciously he wanted to see what he could get away with? Maybe he didn't want the possibility of any X-Men looking for her? Maybe he was actually being nice and cared about her privacy?
Whatever the reason, Marie didn't seem to care. She just nodded and took her place beside him.
Roughly half an hour later, Rogue entered what could have been an abandoned storage room, but was actually John's apartment. It made the bar look like the end of a deep, dark cave and the mansion look like Buckingham Palace.
A small kitchen lay to the right of the door, and a hallway led to the living room.
"Make yourself at home." Pyro directed as he head to the fridge.
Marie took a seat on the couch and looked around her living room. Along with the ratty couch be a small recliner, and a stand with a TV. Other than that, not much else. She was guessing a bedroom and bath lay off the kitchen.
"Want anything?" John asked from the kitchen.
"Um, no thanks."
John returned with a beer in his hand and took his seat in the recliner. He watched Rogue fiddle with the buttons of her green trench coat, until the silence was deafening. He never did like uneasy silences.
"So, what sorrows were you drowning?"
Marie chuckled. "I believe the appropriate question would be what sorrows weren't I drowning?"
Pyro just looked at the flame he had conjured up while she spoke. The flame encircled around his fingers, hooked around his thumb, then came back around his wrist.
"Call it whatever you like. It still doesn't change the fact that you're stalling."
"I just…" Rogue sighed. "I just don't know where to begin."
"How 'bout I start….How's that 'cure' working for ya?" It's the question that'd been on his mind since he saw her at the bar. He had noticed that she still have her gloves on, and that puzzled him.
Though what puzzled her was that when he asked, he sounded more concerned than arrogantly curious.
As if enthralled by the flame that played around his hand, Marie began to spill her guts without any concern to whom she was talking to, or what she was talking about.
"I don't think I've ever regretted anything more in my life."
John truly believed her. He knew he would be lost without his power, and he knew that on some basis, she would be too.
The Pyro that didn't care was about to say 'I told you so', but the John that did care decided against it. They may be on different sides now, but he still cared about her.
He didn't say anything, he just let her ramble. Talking out load was good for troubled times.
John would occasionally add the odd word, but other than that, he listened. And that was what Marie wanted.
He listened while she told him of her conflicting feelings about the 'cure'. About how she felt like she lost an arm, and a leg at the same time. About how she didn't feel as safe as she did with her power. About how Bobby had broken up with her three months after getting the 'cure'. Though that was no biggie. He even listened as she ranted about how even with the 'cure' Bobby wouldn't touch her. It was like her power could come back at any second and he didn't want to chance it.
Pyro laughed at this. Bobby was always a little thick when it came to women. Sure, he could catch 'em, he just didn't know how to deal with 'em.
Even Pyro knew that Rogue needed physical contact. A simple hand holding wasn't good enough. Though men can live without it, women can't.
Now it was four months with the 'cure', and she still hadn't of been touched. Not once. She wasn't only getting physically frustrated, she was getting emotionally frustrated. She was bound to blow one of these days.
John knew what she needed. Any kind of touching would be suffice.
"Stand up." John instructed as he came over to where she sat on the couch.
"Why?" Rogue asked questioningly. Is he kicking my out? Is he tired of my ranting?
"Just stand up." The freaky politeness in his voice told her 'I guess not'.
Rogue did as she was told, and was slightly startled when he turned her around to take off her jacket. Underneath, he found a black long sleeve form fitting shirt and blue jeans that hung off her hips. Comfortably casual John mused.
Rogue slightly relaxed. Now she knew he wasn't going to do anything disastrous to her well being…she hoped.
Ever so gently, Pyro placed his hands on the base of her neck, thumbs digging into the tense muscles.
Rogue went rigid for a moment, but then weakened to the repetitive motions of this fingers going in a circular pattern.
Slowly John moved his magic fingers across her shoulders to just below her armpits. Getting lost in the touch, Marie's eyelids drifted shut as her lips parted when a sigh escaped.
John smirked.
Pyro skillfully massaged his fingers into her ribcage and down her waist, then to the small of her back, up her spine, then back down.
Without realizing what he was doing, Pyro moved his hands to her waist and slid them underneath the hem of her shirt.
Rogue gasped at his touch but didn't move or pull away. Never had she experienced something so amazing, so trusting, so intimate.
Almost as if he was testing the waters, John carefully splayed his hands out on her lower back. When she stayed perfectly still, he took it as a sign to continue.
Applying small amounts of pressure, he moved his hands up her back. A vast expanse of crème coloured, blemish free skin lay open to him from the trail left by his hands as her shirt rode up at his wrists.
Again, Rogue sighed. She was sure that if the Brotherhood thing didn't work out, John could be a masseuse.
Moments later, Pyro felt his hands come in contact with the fabric of her bra clasp.
He cursed himself for wondering if her bra was green. It was her favourite colour after all.
His hands suddenly stopped at the clasp but he didn't take them away.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Marie knew he was asking permission to continue. Subconsciously, she nodded.
Pyro carried on this trek, this time hooking his thumbs around the hum of her shirt. Getting caught on her shoulders, the shirt would go no further. As if Rogue knew, she lifted her arms over her head, the shirt following.
Pyro smirked as his previous question was answered. There before him lay a dark green lace bra with two small clasps eyeing him mockingly.
John pushed his thoughts, which had certainly gone into overdrive, away as if struck by lightning; he instantly became aware of two scents co-mingling in his nostrils. Vanilla and Lavender. She was killing him without even knowing it.
When his right hand came to rest on her hip, Pyro heard another sigh come from her as her shoulders slumped in a most relaxed way.
Her left bra strap falling off her shoulder in the process.
Instinctively, the fingers of Pyro's left hand met up with it as he rubbed the fabric between his thumb and forefinger.
The half inch strap sifted through his fingers as his eyes trailed up the way it came to rest on the base of her neck.
He couldn't resist.
When his lips came in contact with her neck, Rogue couldn't believe it when she whimpered. She had lost the ability to talk a long time ago, but now she couldn't let go.
If someone had of told her when she headed for the bar that St. John 'Pyro' Allerdyce was going to make her feel like this, she would have laughed in their face and told them to take a long walk on a short pier. This was surreal.
For the first time since he began this, whatever it was, Rogue mumbled a lingering "Mmmm…."
It wasn't much but it was all Pyro needed. A moment later he lifted his head to see that he had marked the prefect skin. John smirked into the crook of her neck. He had left his mark. Marked his territory. Silently said that she was his…if only for now.
Rogue seemed to scene this. Reaching for the hand that was on her hip, she pulled it up to the hollow of her breasts.
Pyro was dumbfounded. Was she actually wanting to do this? Although he wasn't complaining, he just couldn't believe he was so close.
Rogue on the other hand wasn't really all that shocked by her own behaviour. John was the only one willing to touch her, amazingly, at that. Anyway, she wasn't with Bobby anymore, so she had nothing to feel guilty about. She had always felt more connected with John anyway. Misunderstood outcasts...
Or maybe subconsciously, she was just doing this in spite. Since Iceman wouldn't touch her, she'd go to Pyro. She wasn't sure. She remembered her and John always had this 'tension' between them, but since Bobby made the first move, she couldn't really see what happened with John. Now she was seeing what she missed out. Thank god for second chances.
Using his free left hand, Pyro trailed a finger over the clasp that laughingly stared back at him. With her holding his other hand to her chest, he couldn't bloody well open the thing. It was hard enough with two hands, let alone one.
Like she was telepathic, Marie released his hand and reached back herself to the blasted clasp. Effortlessly, the clasp was unhooked.
Pyro watched in awe as the green lace fabric fell to the floor, all but forgotten.
He remained silent for a few minutes with only the slight sounds of movement to signal he was still alive. He had stopped his wandering for what seemed like forever but was only maybe a few seconds.
Rogue was about to ask what he was doing when her back came in contact with a hard, hot surface, and a pair of arms snaked around her waist to rest just below her breasts.
He had pulled her flush against his now bare chest.
John knew that whatever this was, it was for her benefit, but the contact between her bare skinand his hands wasn't enough to whet the insatiable appetite he had for her, for so long.
It was then, that Pyro said the one thing he swore he wouldn't say to anyone.
His lips grazed her ear.
"You're beautiful." Then trailed light butterfly kisses down her jaw.
"Oh…John…" she said in one of the most sinfully amazing breathy sighs her had ever heard. No one had ever said that to her before…not even Bobby.
The fact that this was very unlike him, didn't occur to Pyro. He knew what Rogue so desperately wanted from Bobby, but had failed to give her.
That's all that mattered.
The only thing that mattered was that she was with him, in his arms, sighing his name.
A few silent moments later, Rogue turned in his arms. Taking a second to look into each others eyes for any hint of hesitation, and finding none, they both leaned in for a kiss that was never though possible.
Sunlight seeped through the window of the barren bedroom, waking the white streaked brunette.
Where am I? She mused as she looked around the unfamiliar bedroom. Rogue tried to sit up but realized two things. One, she was definitely naked, and two, she definitely not alone.
Looking down, her eyes went from the arm that was draped over her stomach, to the body it coincided with.
Images came flooding back as the body of a visibly naked St. John lay beside her. A white sheet lay haphazardly over his body at the small of his back, and a leg stuck out at the far left. Scratch marks littered the pale skin of his back, and nail shaped indentations sprawled out on his shoulders.
Quietly disentangling from him, Marie quickly gathered the clothes that were in his bedroom, and the rest in the living room and headed for the door, not realizing that that would be the last time she would be touched.
Two moths later, the cure failed.
Author's Note: Ok, the rest of the chapters won't be this long b/c I had to fit the past in one chapter. The rest are much shorter….sorry. And I know Pyro ain't acting his usual self. Deal with it. It's through the whole fic, and you try showing love from a guy who never shows it.
Review's makes me update faster ;) 'hint'
