Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men, the characters, or the plots brought in by X3.
A/N: I'm sorry I haven't been updating, but my life has been Mega hectic. I figure you guys would rather have new chapters up than wait for me to catch the time to thank you for all your wonderful reviews. I want you to know how much I do love your reviews, but at the same time I have to choose between thanking you and updating and I think we would all rather have updates.
So if you have an idea or a question or anything you want to pitch with me feel free to say so in your review and I will try my best to get back to you! I'm sorry I didn't get this up sooner. Once I finally got it ready to put up my fanfiction account was all messed up. For the long wait I promise you another chapter this week.
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Rogue sat up in her bed with a startled gasp. Her eyes were wide as she glanced around the darkened room. She took a deep breath to calm herself as she studied her surroundings with the help of some moonlight filtering in through the window. All the other girls were fast asleep...Rogue was still in the mansion.
Taking another deep breath Rogue leaned back against the headboard of her bed, bringing her knees to her chest. It had just been a nightmare. She really wasn't being separated from her parents and sent to a concentration camp for being a Jew. Rogue was still Rogue.
"Ah don't get it," she whispered to herself with tears forming in her eyes. "Why am Ah still havin' nightmares?"
She was cured now. She wasn't a mutant, and yet, the nightmares--the experiences of the mutants she had absorbed once upon a time still haunted her sleep.
David's thoughts still mingled with her own; Logan's past still meshed with hers; Magneto's childhood had become her childhood; and even John's memories were hers.
Rogue didn't understand why she could still feel them inside her head. She had thought taking the cure would have made everyone else running around her mind disappear.
"All Ah want is ta be normal," murmured Rogue as a single tear slid down her cheek. "Why does everythin' hafta feel so wrong?"
John was on his way back to his room, coming from a party in the broncs, and mostly sobered up. He'd only had about three beers, but then there had been some nasty tasting colored stuff that he'd simply had to try.
The teen stumbled down the hallway toward the stairs. He'd realized once someone else had nabbed the elevator that he'd gone a floor too high, but then he heard almost distressed noises and a gasp from one of the older rooms of the institute.
He walked over to the door, steadied himself against the frame and gave it three light taps. "Rogue, you awake?" His murmured and waited. Bursting into someone's room wasn't a hobby of his, so he hoped she'd answer.
A slight tapping at the door shook Rogue from her thoughts. She scrambled out of her bed at the sound of John's voice and over towards the door. She flung it open and hurtled herself into his arms and making them stumble backwards with tears flowing down her cheeks.
After going without physical contact for so long it was the one thing Rogue needed at this exact moment, and John was the closet one around to find comfort in. The nightmares were freaking her out more and more each night. It was as though they were never going to end.
"Ah cahn't sleep without dreamin' stuff that never happened ta meh," she whispered hoarsely, tightening her grip around John, assuring herself that he was really there and it wasn't another dream.
John stumbled backward a few feet and stood in shock for a moment, blinking in confusion and rigid in posture. First of all the side of her face was in contact with his collar bone and nothing was happening. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it was doubtful strange alcoholic beverages had anything to do with it.
Secondly, John was the resident ahole and he knew it... so he wasn't entirely sure what to do in this situation. So he slipped his arms around her waist, almost excited at the fact that he didn't have to be cautious about skin contact, but at the same time cursing at the mere idea of a 'cure'.
"Shhh." He murmered in a low soothing tone, glancing up and down the hallway to make sure no one was there, and at the same time trying to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do to comfort someone. The idea that Rogue still had his memories, or worse his nightmares, was mortifying all on its own. Maybe she hadn't touched him long enough to get the childhood memories, but he distinctly remembered hitting the porch from the lack of energy caused by the drain.
The blonde wanted to jump all over his friend's case about taking the supposed 'cure' in the first place, but maybe that wasn't it... maybe she could control her power? No, he remembered Bobby frantically searching for her. She was in tears, and someone as closed up as Rogue freely crying on his shoulder was not exactly the perfect opportunity to chew them out. So he just held her tight and waited the tears out, glancing up at the ceiling and praying to god her boyfriend was faaaaaast asleep.
Eventually her tears subsided and Rogue finally pulled away from John with an awkward smile. "Sorry 'bout that," she sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Ah don't know what's wrong with meh...Ah just haven't been sleepin' well lately."
She shifted from one foot to the other, her eyes cast downward. Sure she and John had been friends once, but things were different now. He had been a part of the Brotherhood and Rogue...Rogue had been cured. She had a pretty good feeling John wouldn't like that at all.
Silence loomed in the hallway as Rogue tried to think of something to say besides another apology.
John shrugged her apologies off and crossed his arms as silence engulfed them. He hated awkward silences, and this was one if ever there was one. He stared down at the floor between them with a stunned look on his face. Not just at the fact that she was cured, but the sudden outburst of affection and what seemed to be an almost need for him there. Anyone probably would have done though... so it wasn't exactly a need for him.
"Why the hell would you do that?" He quickly snapped and arched an eyebrow. Sure, it wasn't the brightest thing to say, but being in complete silence led the teen to say the first thing on his mind. "There was nothing wrong with you before." He added in a softer but still bitter tone. His expression was on of confused desperation, at the mere idea that one of his 'friends' had willingly accepted that mutant poison. The strong willed Mystique had been on the verge of tears when she'd been hit.
"Ya don't know what it was like for meh," hissed Rogue crossing her arms defensively. "Ah couldn't touch anyone--what kinda life is that? The only way ta be sure no one else got hurt was ta stay away from them. Things with Bobby were goin' downhill...ahn Ah wasn't happy. Ah haven't been happy since Ah became a mutant. But now Ah have a chance ta be normal--to live a happier life."
It hurt to hear the anger in John's voice. It was as though she had disappointed him. Then again, it was as though she had disappointed a lot of people in the mansion by getting the cure.
"What would you have done if ya had been in mah shoes, John? If ya had mah powers, would ya have kept 'em?" demanded Rogue as more tears formed in her eyes. All she wanted was to fit in, but it seemed no matter what she did she would still remain an outcast.
"Normal? This isn't normal. Being a mutant is part of you, and part of who you are... were." John said in an almost exasperate tone. He wasn't used to being around people who accepted the idea of a cure, nevermind someone who thought it was the right thing to do.
"Would I have kept them? I couldn't have, it's not my gift Rogue. It was your's. One day everyone realizes exactly what their gift is for, would I give up my gift to fit in and lead a normal life? Hell no." He shook his head, not knowing what it was like to have her powers.
He was silent for a moment and glanced off down the hall, and up at the cieling, because he honestly didn't want to argue with her. "Can you really touch people? I mean without anything happening?" He questioned and glanced at her ungloved hands. It was an odd sight to see, but no different than their visit to Bobby's house.
Rogue gritted her teeth to keep more tears from falling. John didn't get it. If he--if anyone for that matter--had had her powers they would know how hard it had been to keep a safe distance from others. Always wearing layers, wearing gloves even during the summer time...it had gotten old after a while.
"Yeah," she said softly, "Ah cahn touch people now without bein' 'fraid Ah might kill 'em."
Rogue sighed, she didn't want to argue with John. It had been her decision to get the cure. She was content with that decision. Though she wished the nightmares would stop.
"I know ya ain't happy with what Ah did, John, but it's over now. Ah already did it--it's in the past, ya know? Cahn't we just start over?" Rogue rubbed her forehead wearily, feeling another headache coming on. Every time she had a nightmare it was almost immediately followed by a headache. It made Rogue's skin crawl, like she was getting sick or something.
"Yeah." John replied with a shrug and tried to act like it was really no big deal. "I'm sure Bobby's happy..." He grumbled and looked back at her. Maybe Bobby wasn't happy that she'd gotten the cure, but he was probably pleased with the ability to touch his own girlfriend.
"Starting over would mean you going all shy, me having to show off to get a smile out of you and Bobby gettin' me in trouble with Miss Munroe 'cause he's jealous." The teen quipped with a smirk. "How 'bout we just skip it?" He questioned quietly and stepped forward for a light hug. "I missed you, it's good to be back."
Rogue chuckled and wrapped her arms around John's neck. "Ah've missed ya too." She had, things just hadn't been the same without John around.
"Are ya gonna stick 'round for a while?" she whispered into his ear, hoping he would. It would be nice to have another friend around to hang out with again. Sure she had Bobby, but she couldn't spend all her time with her boyfriend. It would be nice to have friends besides Bobby.
"You're jus' sayin' that." John said with a smirk and gave her a tight squeeze before letting go. "Missed yah at Alcatraz, and yah missed the major migraine your boyfriend gave me." He said and stepped back. "Yeah. I think my 'followin the evil dictator' phase is over. Mystique's human." The teen said it all rather quickly, throwing in the last part as if it all connected, and to him it did.
Rogue had been completely open with him, and it was two o'clock in the morning. "That guard who shot her was aiming for Magneto, and she jumped in the way to save him, but apparently it didn't matter because he just left her there. It had to be the worst thing I've ever witnessed in my entire life. I mean, you know Mystique. She's... Mystique, but she just looked..." He trailed off figuring he'd said a little too much, and he couldn't think of the right word for it anyway. Being John he might have noticed the fact that she had been entirely naked at the time, but that had been the farthest thing from his mind.
"Ah heard Mystique ahn Magneto were both human now. For them it's the worst thing that coulda ever happened. But Ah don't know if Ah cahn pity them much. They tried ta kill meh once...Ah guess Ah haven't been able ta let that go."
Rogue made a face and then shook her head to banish thoughts of Ellis Island out of her mind. "Ya don't look worse for wear...Bobby took it easier ohn ya then he could've. At least that's the rumor Ah've been hearin'. Our side took some big hits too though. Everyone was affected this time 'round."
"Have ya talked ta Bobby yet?" asked Rogue after a minute. Since she had heard about the Alcatraz Island incident she had been afraid to mention John to Bobby. They had been best friends once, and now it was one of the more testy subjects to discuss.
"I was tired, Iceman spent the whole time hidin' behind people while I was flaming away." John said with a shrug, and avoided eye contact. "I could'a taken him if I wanted to." He lied with an arrogant smirk and thought bitterly about Bobby's last comment. Well he was back in school now, and he was gonna kick Iceman's a one of these days.
"No, don't see the point." He replied with a light-hearted laugh and a glance into Rogue's room. "Should we move? We're gonna wake everyone up." The teen questioned, but actually meant 'are we gonna go in your room and talk or stay out here until we get caught?'
"Uh-huh. Ya ahn Bobby just need ta get over yourselves, ya know that? Ya both think ya coulda taken the other down," remarked Rogue with a roll of her eyes. They had always been competive in the past, so it didn't surprise her that they couldn't drop their prides and let bygones be bygones.
"Come ohn in. It wouldn't be good ta wake anyone else up--Ah don't think Storm or Logan would appreciate it." Rogue motioned John to follow her into her bedroom. She returned to her bed and sat back down, pulling her knees back to her chest.
"Ya didn't get hurt real bad, didja?" she asked after a moment of silence. It pained her to think that he and Bobby had really fought each other. She could never understand friends fighting against friends...then again, brothers had fought brothers in the Civil War. It had to be the human part of everyone that continued that particularly vicious cycle of battling loved ones.
John followed her into the room and laid at the foot of her bed, staring up at the cieling and wondering why Rogue didn't hate him for leaving them all on basically no notice for a guy that had tried to kill her for the 'better mutant kind'.
"There is no way I could possibly get over myself, jus' too cool." He joked and laughed a little. "As for Iceman... due I don't know what he's got to be so impressed about..." He teased and smiled over at her. He didn't really understand what she liked about Bobby, he was always so cautious... and waited forever for her to get the courage to try something. Then again maybe that was a likeable trait in her point of view.
"No I'm fine, save the occasional headache. Man Piotr probably could've knocked me out with less damage, I think the fact that the blow was ice cold had something to do with me being out of it for a week." He admitted, and sighed. Bobby was better than him, he'd beaten him flat out in combat, and that was definitely a tough thing to swallow. "So, you and Bobby goin' uphill now that your... human?" He said in a voice that hinted it was the most unimaginable thing he could possibly say, but it was said with less bitterness than the last couple times.
"Ya aren't givin' yourself much credit," stated Rogue. "The only reason Bobby beat ya was 'cause he had more trainin'. The X-Men make ya learn how ta control your powers if they cahn be controlled. Ah don't know if Magneto did that with ya...if he didn't it'd be a reasonable reason why ya couldn't beat Bobby in battle, ya know?"
Rogue bit her lip as John asked about her and Bobby's relationship. "It's alright Ah guess. Things were pretty weird for a while. He ahn Kitty kinda had somethin' goin' ohn...we've been takin' it a step at a time since then."
"You obviously aren't listening. I could have beat Bobby." John repeated, but he figured if you absorbed someone's very personality you could probably tell what their different expressions meant... and thus know when they were lying.
"Is that why you did it?" He questioned suddenly and glanced over at Rogue. If John's girlfriend suddenly took interest in someone else he'd probably remind her why she liked him, but with Rogue it hadn't really been possible... at least not in his way of thinking.
"Liar." Rogue didn't bother explaining how she knew he was lying, she just did. She shook her head violently however at the last question.
"Ah didn't do it for Bobby. Ah did it for meh. It's what Ah wanted. It's what Ah've always wanted. John, when Ah came here Ah thought that the Professor could cure meh, but Storm pointed out that wasn't what he did. Ah've wanted a cure more than anythin' else...Ah know everyone thinks Ah did it for Bobby, but Ah didn't. Ah would've gotten the cure even if Ah didn't have a boyfriend that was thinkin' 'bout another girl 'cause he could touch her."
Rogue didn't know how else to make John see that getting the cure was her choice through and through. It was the only thing she had done in a long while to make herself happy.
"Okay, okay, calm down. It was simply a question. I've been gone for ages, rememeber?" John asked with a small smile at her, but turned away to look out the window.
"I stil say its part of who you are." He said quietly and sat up with a sudden grin of realization on his face. "So, yah can't get me outta your head huh?" The teen asked smugly and rolled onto his stomach to look at her, a coy smile on his face. "I suppose I am hard to forget." He said in an almost sympathetic tone.
Rogue narrowed her eyes at John's smile. "Ya don't even wanna know what Ah remember from your head. 'Sides, ya ain't the only one Ah cahn't forget 'bout. Magneto, Logan...even mah first boyfriend are all up there. So Ah wouldn't feel too special if Ah was you."
Leaning her chin on her knees she studied John for a minute before saying, "Ah really did miss ya."
John quickly rolled his eyes and averted his gaze back to the ceiling. He'd missed her, sure, but she actually seemed to be sincere about missing him. It wasn't just another 'glad to have you back, how long before you take off this time.'
The eighteen-year-old still wasn't used to having someone he could count on, never mind someone who actually cared about him or even wanted him around. Instead of speaking he focused his thoughtful and almost timid gray stare on the dark corner of ceiling by her closet.
"Are ya even listenin' ta meh? The least ya could say is ya felt bad for not sayin' good-bye or somethin' lame like that." Rogue sighed and plopped onto her stomach beside John on her bed. "Well, whether ya wanna admit it or not, Ah think ya missed meh too. Ah'm glad your back."
The last words were a whisper as Rogue's head drooped down onto the bed. She closed her eyes and snuggled against John, happy that she didn't have to worry about hurting him with a single touch. It felt nice to have someone there with her. Now she didn't have to be alone anymore.
"I did say I missed you!" John protested weakly, but he let it go considering he couldn't even make eye contact when she said something meaningful to him.
"I guess you are." He muttered in reply to her last statement, and slung an arm around her shoulders. Never in John's wildest dreams had he imagined being civil toward a human, much less close to one. He almost felt bad for Rogue, as most had when she had her mutation, but being human and never feeling the excitement of reaching out with her powers? It sounded like sheer torture to him.
He placed a soft kiss on the top of her head and rested his chin there. "You really happier with being this way?" The teen mumbled as he snapped his eyes open every so often in an attempt to stay awake.
Rogue nodded sleepily. "It's the happiest Ah've been in a long while," she murmured with a yawn, snuggling closer to John, letting his warmth sink in. In an attempt to get more comfortable she wrapped an arm around his waist and used his chest as a cushion for her head.
"Night, John," she mumbled incoherently.
"Okay, then I'll try an' be happy for you." John mumbled and yawned. If she wanted to be human, and he wanted to be her friend, then he couldn't hold it against her. A small sleepy smile passed over his face as she repositioned herself and he let his own head fall back onto the bed. He had no desire to move and grab a pillow, and apparently he was her pillow substitute for the night.
"Good night." He replied quietly, still getting used to hearing his own name again. People had been calling him Pyro for a long time, but it was sort of nice to hear his own name again.
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Rogue awoke the next morning to sunlight filtering onto her eyes. Sleepily she entangled herself from John's arms to gaze about her room, trying to remember where she was exactly.
A soft smile worked it's way up onto her face as she glanced back at John. It hadn't been a dream. He was still there. Studying his face Rogue decided he looked happier too. She glanced over at the clock on her bedstand and rolled her eyes at the time. It was almost noon and no one had come to bother her yet. That probably meant no one else in the mansion was up yet either.
Rather than be kind and let John sleep, Rogue decided to start poking him in the cheek gently. "Jonny, wake up. You're snorin'."
"Mmmnot." John mumbled sleepily, but his face scrunched up in confusion. "What're yew doin' my room?" He grumbled and opened an eye. He suddenly remembered that he wasn't in his own room, and with that all sorted out he tapped Rogue on the head and turned his back to her. "Go tah sleep." He said with a smirk on his face, and no intention of doing so.
So the whole thing with Rogue hadn't been a dream, and rather than angry she was glad to have him back. If only he could have worked up the courage to talk to Bobby... but he somehow doubted the conversation would go anything near similiar to his and Rogue's. Though it also meant she was in fact human, and happy about it.
"Ow." The teen mumbled out of nowhere and thread his hand into his hair. Hangover's weren't fun, but luckily he hadn't had that much to drink; and this would probably be a light one. That didn't mean his head wasn't throbbing, though he hadn't been drunk last night and had really no excuse for opening up to Rogue. None past actual, sincere trust in the girl.
Rogue rolled her eyes as she plopped back down on her stomach beside John. "Somebody's bein' cranky this mornin'."
She reached over and poked him in the ribs. "You're not gonna go back ta sleep are ya? Maybe ya should get up ahn take a run 'round the mansion. It might do ya some good. Or ya cahn get up ahn take a shower. Or ya cahn get up ahn talk ta Bobby. Ah have a whole list of things for ya ta do."
John jerked away from her, chuckling slightly. His ribs and sides were extremely ticklish, and his sensitive ribs had been poked.
"Sleep." John grunted in reply, but turned around with open eyes to face her. He smiled and sighed. "You aren't gonna let me sleep are you? Let's give up on that talking to Bobby thing, for a while at least." He said and sat up with a smile.
A quick glance at her was all it took. The teen quickly reached out with his right hand and lightly stroked hers with the back of his fingers. It wasn't the same as with her power. The touch didn't have the same intensity, but he reminded himself that the close and intense feeling was due to the fact that his very thoughts were being transferred through that touch. "Kinda weird." He muttered and swallowed.
Rogue watched as John's hand reached out towards her. His touch was soft and seemed to say a million things at once...the very same things she had gotten when she had absorbed him.
But she couldn't help asking, "What's weird? Meh? Ah'm still the same person Ah was last time ya were here...just...human now."
Rogue swallowed nervously as she locked eyes with John.
"I guess so." John replied quietly, with another of his noncommital shrugs. Their eyes met and he felt his stomach do an uncomfortable flip.
After a while he realized what they were doing and quickly looked down at the bed, face heating almost to the point of a blush. "We should get up, it's late." He mumbled and quickly slipped off the bed.
"Twelve o'clock? Yeesh... I didn't drink that much." The blonde teen joked and gave her a weak smile. "Though I did manage to get the numbers two and three mixed up in the elevator... I wonder what was in that colored crud?" He mused aloud and stretched with a yawn.
For half a second Rogue felt a tinge of disappointment as John got onto his feet, but she quickly realized why he had done it. With a nod of her head Rogue sat up in bed as though nothing had been about to happen, glancing at the door. She couldn't hear any sounds coming from the hallway, which probably meant the coast was clear.
"Maybe next time ya won't go out drinkin'," murmured Rogue with a grin. "Thanks for talkin' with meh last night--it helped chase all the nightmares away. Maybe we cahn hang out later."
"I'm the human dream catcher. It's my second and more dormant power... if only it worked on me." John replied, not really acknowledging that he'd helped in any way, and making a joke out of it like he did with most things.
"Later works, Right now I've gotta go run around the mansion," He said and made his way for the door, "and maybe next time I'll have something better to do." His voice hinted at something, nothing specific, but something. Later they'd probably hang out, but right now was weird for some reason and that probably wasn't a good thing.
"Yeah, that sounds good to meh," agreed Rogue nodding. She gave John a small smile, sensing the difference in the tone of his voice. She watched him go before sinking back down onto her bed.
Things had gotten awkward fast...and Rogue wasn't sure what to make of it all. She had Bobby still, she couldn't ruin that now. They had just made it through the Kitty debacle, Rogue knew another bump in the road would probably destroy them.
Rogue's eyes darted back to her closed door. John still lived in her mind. It would be hard to forget him and the unspoken words that easily.
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So there it is. Rogue and John are friends again. Don't you Ryro shippers or haters start dancing or booing. Anything can happen in an RPG and I'm not gonna say anything about these two going one way or the other. You guys are gonna be psyched with the things to come, the Brotherhood is coming back and coming back strong.