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That night inside the Hilton hotel An attractive young, blonde woman walked into the hotel room and as she closed the door behind her, the appearance went away as Mystique became her blue, scaled form and headed over to the television where Magneto, Pyro, Sabretooth and Toad had gathered to watch a reporter doing a broadcast about the cure.

"History will be made here tomorrow morning. For the first time ever, the so called mutant cure, being referred to as 'hope' will be made available to the public. As we've seen since the announcement, reactions have been mixed. Some mutants are desperate for the cure while others are insulted by the mere idea of it."

Magneto muted the television and turned to Pyro.

"Tomorrow you will raze Rao Laboratories to the ground. You will prevent any mutant from this cure being used against them."

"I'll be going alone?"

Magneto noticed his reluctance and narrowed his eyes.

"Are you a god...or an insect?"

Sabretooth snorted.

"Never send a boy to do a man's job."

Toad laughed which caused Pyro to glare at him and Sabretooth both. However, the larger mutant returned it which a much more scarier look.

"Don't eyeball me, boy."

Pyro looked away from him and stared back at Magneto.

"I'll do it."

Magneto nodded as he turned the volume to the television back on and the Brotherhood continued to listen to the reporter.

"From what we've gathered, Rao Labs is planning on opening their doors to the public as early as nine o'clock..."

The following morning, wearing black gloves and her green hooded cloak, Rogue was standing by the front door and she had finally come to a conclusion though deep down it was still bothering her. She had been up all night, going through the scenario, the situation she now found herself in. But still, a lingering question went through her mind that she couldn't answer herself. If she did take the cure, would she still be allowed to stay here? Would she have to leave if she were no longer a mutant? This was her home now, they had taken her in off the streets and become her family. Before this, Rogue had begun to think she had found her purpose in life in being apart of the X-Men.

She could use her 'gift' to help people, but now the cure had offered her an option that she had never thought would come along. Rogue took a deep breath as she slowly put her hand on the doorknob when suddenly a voice stopped her;

"Where you headed, kiddo?"

She froze. Rogue didn't want to turn around, she was to an extent ashamed to reveal her decision. Finally, she turned to face Logan. She didn't say anything but she didn't have to, Logan already knew where she was going.

"I hope your not doing this for some boy," he sighed.

"No…it's not that. I've tried to deal with this, but I can't ignore what could be my only chance at a normal life. You don't know what it's like to be afraid of your powers, to get close to anyone."

"Yeah, I do," Logan assured. "But if I told you I know exactly what you're going through I'd be lying. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I was in your position."

"I know you don't approve, and it's a bad example to set for other mutants, but-"

"Hey, I'm not your father."

Rogue then smiled at Logan.

"I'm your friend," Logan returned the smile. "If you wanna go, go. Just be sure that it's what you want. And I'll still be here for you, whatever you decide."

"Be careful, Rogue."

They let go of each other.

"Marie," she said, remembering how they told each other their real names, back in Logan's pick-up truck. It seemed like ages ago. So much had happened since.

He nodded, he remembered too.

"Marie."

Logan turned away and Rogue continued her way out.

On the second floor of the mansion, Bobby walked out of his bedroom fully dressed after just waking up. He headed down the hall until he reached Rogue's room and stopped to see the door open. Bobby slowly headed in and sat down on the bed, feeling sadness build up in him. He wondered if Rogue was feeling the same way too. As he stared at the floor, Pitor walked by and saw Bobby inside.

"Hey."

Bobby looked up when he heard the voice.

"Storm wants to see us. Where's Rogue? I've been looking everywhere for her."

"She must have left," Bobby shrugged.

"Oh…you don't think?" Pitor began.

He stared at the other boy.

"What?"

"Rao Labs just started releasing the cure to the public."

"No…she wouldn't," Bobby shook his head as he got to his feet. He quickly walked past Pitor. "Tell Storm I had to go."

As fast as he could, Bobby sprinted down the stairs and out of the school, hoping he could get to his girlfriend in time before she ended up doing something she might end up regretting.

Downtown, a large crowd formed on the opposite side of Rao Laboratories. Security stood in front of the building as a line of mutants had lined up for when they finally opened their doors to make the hope serum available. A bus then stopped a short way from the laboratory and Rogue stepped off along with several others. She walked down the sidewalk until reaching the line and stood in the back of it.

As she continued to wait, all the people Rogue had touched began to run through her mind; David, Logan, Magneto, Bobby, John, Storm. She then looked across the street at the group of mutants who were there to protest against the cure.

They began to chant;

"We don't need a cure! We don't need a cure! We don't need a cure! We don't need a cure!"

Rogue stared down at her feet as she continued to wait.

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Minutes went by as slowly but surely mutants began to file their way into the laboratory. While it continued, Bobby got out of a taxi he had managed to flag down and quickly made his way through the crowd.

"Rogue!" He shouted while continuing to push his way through people and looking around widely before he bumped into someone very familiar. His former best friend, John was now standing before him, the trademark smirk Bobby knew all too well was plastered across his face.

"Taking the cure so you can go home to mommy and daddy?" Pyro sneered.

"John," Bobby replied, still somewhat in shock to be seeing him right now.

Pyro shook his head.

"I gave up that name months ago."

"Why'd you do it?" Bobby asked, it was the question he had on his mind ever sense he heard the news of him leaving with Magneto.

"Do what?"

"Why did you go with Magneto? Come back with me to the school, you still can."

"It's a prison. People always telling me what I can and can't do, how to be. Who to be."

Pyro formed a fireball from the wrist lighter Magneto designed for him, leveling the flame. He took a step forward, and Bobby steadied, forcing a stare.

"This is who I am."

He snapped his palm shut and the flame disappeared for a second. Then it was there again, the fire incredible this time, and Bobby watched, nearly dumbstruck, as strangers cried out, pushing and stumbling to get by. Pyro laughed as he handled the growing blaze with the skill and poise of an experienced juggler.

"Come on, Iceman. Make a move," He dared.

Bobby just shook his head, a look of disappointment clear on his face as he turned away from him and continued his search for Rogue. He finally spotted her at the end of the line.

"Rogue!"

Rogue looked over when she heard his voice.

"Bobby! What are you doing here?"

"I don't want you to do this, we can find another way."

"I told you that I'm not doing this for you," Rogue nearly snapped at him in frustration. "And there is no other way."

Before either one could say another word, Pyro unleashed a large stream of flame at the laboratory. The building exploded on impact and immediately caught fire as the mutants lined up screamed and began to run away, as did the protestors that Pyro had stood among. Rogue screamed when she saw what had happened.

"No! I have to get in there!"

She ran forward but Bobby grabbed her and held her back.

"It's too late, Rogue!"

"No!"

Meanwhile, several cops who saw Pyro ran over towards him but were immediately engulfed in flame. Bobby pulled away from Rogue and ran over to where Pyro was standing. Pyro smirked and prepared himself by lighting another fireball while Bobby got himself ready, he had no choice now.

"What the hell do you think you're doing John!?"

"My name is Pyro."

Pyro shot a stream of fire at him but Bobby used ice to shield himself from it.

"Are you still afraid of a fight?"

Firing another steam of fire he concentrated, weaving it around Iceman before it blew him a good few feet back until his back slammed into the side of a parked car. Iceman coughed as he wiped away a small amount of blood that trickled from his mouth, eyes narrowing as he clenched his fist so hard it began to turn blue. Getting to his feet, he stalked his way back over towards Pyro.

"You want to do this, we'll do it."

Iceman quickly shot a stream of ice at Pyro which nailed him in the chest, knocking him off his feet. However, Pyro only smirked as he got back up.

"You're in over your head, Bobby. Maybe you should go back to school."

"You never should have left."

Pyro didn't respond as he then sent a line of fire straight at his former best friend. Iceman retaliated with ice and the two powers collided. Both pushed each other back and forth, trying to get leverage. People on the street who hadn't ran away watched the fight in awe. Finally, Pyro pushed forward and used more strength to get the advantage. Pyro continued to engulf Iceman in flames as he fell to his knees, barely able to hold them back. After a few more moments, Pyro pulled away and Iceman collapsed to the ground, weakened.

He raised his hands to finish his former friend off, but as Pyro watched Iceman crawling, trying to get back up, he hesitated. Pyro then heard the sounds of sirens coming. He looked down at Iceman one last time before kicking him in the ribs, causing him to gasp in pain, sending him sideways into the fetal position. Pyro then turned and took off running away from the burning laboratory as fast as he could.

Taking a deep breath, Iceman pushed himself back up to his feet and saw that his former friend was gone as more cop cars made their way towards the burning lab. He ran over to where Rogue last was but when he got there, she was gone too.

"Rogue!" He yelled while frantically looking around for her. "Where are you! Rogue!"

Bobby himself moved away from the building as the cop cars pulled up outside the lab. The young mutant continued looking around for his girlfriend in frustration, but she was no where in sight.

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Gasping for air when he finally stopped running, Pyro dropped down to one knee trying to get oxygen back into his lungs. His legs were dead and there was a slight pain in his right side. After about a minute, he pulled himself back up and noticed he was in the Westchester Park District. He was still nervous and needed to get back to the hotel as he could still hear the sirens in the distance. Suddenly something slammed into him from behind. He stumbled forward, almost knocked off his feet and quickly turned around, ready to launch a fireball at whoever it was, but to his shock, it was Rogue who was coming straight at him.

"You bastard!"

She shouted while swinging her hands widely, hitting him wherever she possibly could.

"You destroyed my chance of being normal again!"

Pyro finally regained his composure long enough to grab Rogue's wrists in his hands, stopping her from hitting him.

"So you're the reason Bobby was there. I should have figured you'd want the cure." Pyro looked her up and down as she thrashed in his grip. "You're pathetic."

Rogue suddenly went still in Pyro's grip after he said that and the look of rage her face had was replaced by a look of hurt.

"I'm not pathetic for wanting a normal life."

"Newsflash, Rogue. You're not normal."

Pyro then let her go and Rogue rubbed her arm.

"I thought I knew you," she said as she watched him. "I always knew that your were a rebel John, but I'd never guess that you'd join Magneto."

"You never knew me," Pyro snapped. "You haven't been through what I have."

"You think you're the one who's been through something?" Rogue incredulously responded. "So you're gonna cause harm for others, and why? Because you're angry?"

"Are you even gonna try to understand?"

"What's to understand? I saw the reports of what happened at Alcatraz. You killed people didn't you?"

"I don't know...maybe." Pyro then flexed his hand into a fist as he sighed heavily. "Try to understand, please."

"You want me to understand? Turn yourself in, you can help us stop Magneto, turn him back over to the authorities. You can put things right…"

She hoped to get through to him but Pyro only shook his head.

"Things aren't ever going to be right again, Rogue. The battle lines are drawn, we're both going to have to live with it, like it or not."

Pyro then grabbed Rogue's hand. She gasped as he placed his shark lighter in her hand.

"Give this to Bobby. Tell him I don't need it anymore."

He then turned and ran off. Rogue watched him until he was finally out of sight before looking down at the shark zippo lighter John placed in her hand. She was a little confused as she turned the object over in her hand. The lighter must of had a lot more meaning than she knew.