Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men. Deal with it.
Summary: Different Points of View concerning the cure during the third Movie.
Rogue: Is It Worth It?
I was sitting in the lounge when they first announced it on TV.
A cure for the Mutant Gene.
Was it true? Could it be true? A chance to be free of the curse that everyone is calling a gift.
I run to the Professor's office, and burst in without knocking. He is sitting there with Storm and Logan, who is exchanging glares with a blue-furred mutant that I do not recognize. They exchange looks as I blurt out the question that I so desperately want the answer to.
They pause, and do not speak for a long moment. Then Storm tells me that no, they cannot. Because there is nothing to cure. She walks out of the room, obviously in a bad mood, but Logan gives me a look that I know well. A look that says that he knows where I am coming from, even if nobody else does. That whatever I decide, he will support me.
I am reassured by the knowledge that I will have at least one person on my side if I choose to take the Cure, even as a small part of me wonders if Storm isn't right.
We are sitting on the lawn as Storm gives a final farewell speech for the Professor. How he died for his dream of Peace, but his memory lives on.
I sit next to Bobby, feeling his hand on my knee. We have been growing apart lately. Avoiding each other. But now we are united in grief.
I bow my head in sorrow, and see my boyfriend take the hand of Kitty Pryde, sitting next to us. Her bare hand. Skin to skin contact.
Touch.
Something I will never have.
Storm finishes her speech and I stand up, walking to the Professor's Grave Marker and placing a rose next to the candle that burns there.
I stand in front of the window of my room and look down at the pond in the garden.
Bobby has frozen the water, and he and Kitty are skating, hand in hand.
They laugh as they skate. He catches her when she stumbles, pulling her close, and holding her there.
Bobby and I would hold each other like that, once. My inability and reluctance to touch is drawing a line between Bobby and I. Bobby has never pressured me, but he is a guy, a teenaged guy, and I know he wants more, even if he will never say so.
I can't kiss my boyfriend without killing him. Now I see him skating with Kitty, kissing her, and I have never felt so alone in my life.
I watch for a few moments longer, then turn away.
I have packed my bag, and I am walking down the hall, leaving the Manor. Even if the 'Cure' doesn't work, I want to at least try.
Of course, Logan catches me in the act. "Need a lift, Kid?"
I try to explain before he can stop me from leaving. I tell him how I want all the things that everyone else seems to take for granted. A touch, a hug, a handshake. A kiss.
Logan frowns, and I brace myself for a lecture, but he only asks if I am doing this for some boy.
I blink, surprised, and ask him why he isn't telling me to go back to my room and unpack. Logan gives me this part sad, part amused half-smile. "I'm not your father, Kid. I'm your friend. If you want to do this, just make sure that you do it for yourself."
I smile at him, knowing that he does understand why I want this, and supports me. He is wrong about one thing, though. Logan may be gruff, and has several bad habits like drinking and smoking, but he has always been protective of me, and if I had to choose a father, it would be him.
I get off the bus, looking around. People are running as a burst of flame comes from nearby. Somehow, I get the feeling that John, the Pyromaniac, Bobby's Ex- best friend, had decided to express his feelings about the Cure.
Even so, I feel strangely detached. Other people's opinion's don't matter to me right now.
The only thing that matters to me is the Cure inside the building in front of me.
But is it really what I want? Suddenly I am not so sure.
I look at the building again. It is in flames, with burning objects scattered nearby, and people running around, trying to put out the fire on their skin and clothing.
I frown, remembering the time that I absorbed John, years ago. I used my power for good then, and helped to save lives. I remember my last Danger Room session, when I briefly absorbed Piotr. He was disorientated for a few seconds, but it helped 'save' both of our lives. I remember before I met Logan, when I was on the run. I used my power to protect myself when a drunken trucker decided that I was fair game and tried to get a little too friendly.
If I am honest with myself, I can admit that there are ways around touch, and one of the psyches in my mind points out some of those ways can be better than skin-to-skin touch, in certain scenarios. I try to ignore it, blushing at one of the suggestions.
My powers can help me, can help others, and maybe someday I will learn control or find a way to temporarily negate them when necessary. But even if I don't, am I really ready to give them up? Will the part of me that will always be an X-(Wo)Man let me? Do I even want to give them up?
No. I can't go through with it.
I arrive back at the mansion just as the X-Men are boarding the blackbird.
Bobby and the others are already on board, and I catch Logan just before he does the same. I explain that I couldn't go through with it, that I would stay behind and protect the mansion in case this was a trap/decoy by Magneto or the Government.
Not like it would be the first time.
Logan looks at me, with the glint in his eyes and the barest hint of a smirk that says he is proud of me, of what I am doing, even if he will never admit it out loud.
I give him a quick kiss on the cheek, just enough to take a small amount of his powers, but not enough to cause any lasting effects, and we part ways, ready to take a stand.
I am sitting in my room when Bobby comes in.
I explain that I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't be cured, because there was nothing to cure in the first place. My boyfriend looks at me. "It's Okay, Rogue …Marie."
I give him a gentle smile coupled with a slightly acidic Look, fully aware of the devastating effect it has always had on him. "I know," the dummy is left unspoken, "It's what I wanted."
He takes my gloved hand in his, and we stand side by side, looking out the window at the students returning.
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A/N: I didn't like the way Rogue was portrayed in the movies as a weak little girl constantly going on about her deadly mutation. Especially since she is portrayed as such a strong character everywhere else. So I was watching the deleted scenes in the DVD special features and decided to do an alternate Rogue chapter the way I think it should have gone.
Review and tell me what you think,
Nathalia
