"Sometimes I wonder if anything is absolute anymore. Is there still right and wrong? Good and bad? Truth and lies? Or is everything negotiable, left to interpretation, gray? Sometimes we're forced to bend the truth to transform it because we are faced with things that are not of our own making. And sometimes, things simply catch up with us." ~ Lucas Scott (One Tree Hill)

Thanks for the reviews!

Snow and Fire Don't Mix!

Ch. 21

Show and Tell

I know what you are…

Those five words were said to get under Rogue's skin, but they didn't sting or prick at all. Over the years she'd heard everything from 'freak' to 'mutie' and beyond. It was daunting to think humans would never understand nor even bother to try. However, when Rogue looked at the individual in front of her, she didn't see anything resembling a human. On the outside, Veronica looked perfectly normal, but she was an example of how beauty can be deceiving. She was like a monarch butterfly: beautiful exterior with a poisonous interior. "More importantly, I know who you are, Veronica," Rogue retorted. She crossed her arm and pressed her lips together in a straight line.

Veronica's smile thinned out. "That's unfortunate." She licked her lips, cocked her head to the side, and grinned once again to match the reaction she was about to get from what she was about to say. "Did John mention to you that I was getting him excited?"

Rogue wanted nothing more than to use physical force to wipe that smirk right off her face, but energy wasn't to be wasted on rubbish. "Be careful what you say to me. Provoking me will only bring you eternal darkness," she threatened. However, it was an empty threat. Rogue swore that when she touched Veronica her blood turned black . . . a feeling she didn't want to experience again; concerned it could take a hold of her and force her to become something unimaginable.

Veronica looked at Rogue's gloved hands and then turned her attention to the door as it was being opened slowly. Pyro glanced at the girl in the bathtub and then at Rogue. "Shadowcat needs to see you."

Rogue softly nodded once and left. Once she was through the doorway, Pyro pushed the door and it swung shut.

"Oh John, don't be like that," Veronica said with a slight laugh included in her voice, "introduce me to your friends. I think we're at that appropriate stage in our relationship."

He locked his gaze on her and kept silent. There were no signs of hate or anger on his face . . . just genuine boredom.

"I assume this," she tapped her finger on the ice, "wasn't you." She paused in thought, and after a few moments her face lit up. "Bobby," she said in a low voice as his name emerged from her memory bank. "That's it . . ."

Pyro put his hands in the hoodie's front pouch and caressed the item inside. "Were you going to kill me?" he asked, candidly.

In an instant, the delusion and civility vanished. "Yes," she hissed. "I didn't know it then, but I would have been doing the world a favor."

"The human life is sacred. You have no right to take a life," he said, evenly.

"The thing is . . . you are NOT human," she barked. Everything about his current demeanor was irritating her. Veronica wanted him to get angry and absently do something foolish.

Pyro shot back, "I'm more human than you!" He picked up a small hand towel and cocked his head to the side. "I don't trust you. Be a good girl and open up."

"Bite me, Mutant. Go to h—"

"Baby, I'm already there." He winked at her just before flipping the light switch. In the darkness, Veronica heard the jingling of coins followed by a sigh. Then she heard another noise and immediately after, she saw fire. He called the flames to his palm and tossed the used match to the cold tiled floor. Pyro's eyes gleamed with excitement while he ignored the muffled unintelligible noises that she was making. When she quieted down, he continued, "It's been way too long since I've played with fire." He turned the wastebasket upside down and sat on top of it and held the ball of fire between her face and his. "I should let you burn, but unlike you, I have morals." His focus was on the element in his palm. He willed the fire to increase, making Veronica back away as far as she could. "I can also manipulate the heat. Due to your custom-made cell . . . the intensity of the heat has been decreased," Pyro explained. After a few moments, the sphere of fire was reduced in dimension. Setting off the sprinklers or fire alarm would bring unwanted attention to the room. "I found the matches in this room; the same room where I was being held by you. If you'd looked more carefully you wouldn't be where you are right now." He lightly scoffed in amusement. "Isn't it kind of funny how everything worked out the way it did?"

Unable to speak, she replied using her fingers. She stretched all of them toward his neck and curled them stiffly. He laughed caustically at the gesture. "Strangulation is not your MO." There was a soft knock on the door. "Show's over," he announced abruptly and then stood up. Pyro mentally willed the ball of fire into the size of a tennis ball and cupped his free palm to extinguish the flames. He turned his back on her, and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him, purposely leaving Veronica in darkness.

Pyro joined his female companions in the middle of the room. He glanced at Bobby who was sitting on the floor in front of the TV and then met Rogue's down-to-business eyes.

"I'm confident we have enough evidence to send this crazy bitch back into isolation, and we're not going to be sticking around to take credit for her capture," said Rogue.

"Everything we need is on this flash drive," Shadowcat said, holding up a small rectangular object.

"So what's next, Rogue?" asked Pyro.

"You and Shadowcat are going to go down to the lobby to print out everything on the flash drive."

"You make it sound so easy," Pyro said skeptically.

"How hard can it be? You're the distraction."

Iceman interjected, "It's a piece of cake. You're very distracting, Pyro. Even now . . . I'm unable to concentrate. See? Easy."

"Whatever." He turned to Shadowcat and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yup, just let me grab a few things in my room, and then we'll go." She headed for the exit and held the door open for Pyro.

He went over to Rogue and took her gloved hands in his. "I think you need to get out of this room for a little while," Pyro said quietly.

"You're probably right, but I'll stay here with Iceman." She gave his fingers a firm but gentle squeeze.

A tight smile emerged on his face and then he gave her a quick peck on the lips, turned, and walked out of the room, followed by Shadowcat.

After several unsuccessful attempts to get her hands free of the frozen cuff, Veronica let out a muffled growl and scream. Being caught by mutant parasites infuriated her. She felt—just like many others—that the solution to the mutant infestation should be extermination. She inhaled and exhaled slowly through her nose. All she could hear were muffled sounds and the occasional scraping of asphalt by plow trucks. She was starting to feel the effects of being imprisoned. Her throat was dry, her arms were cramping, and the hard surface of the porcelain tub was hurting her perfect ass. She mentally cursed John for leaving her in the dark as it was inhumane and unnecessary. Momentarily putting her hate to the side, once again she focused on listening to what was going on outside the bathroom, which consisted of more muffled sounds and then a slight thump.

Waiting for Kitty, John stood in the hall outside her door. He pressed his back against the off-white wall and propped his left foot onto the wall, putting all of his weight on the right. He closed his eyes and heard the opening instrumental notes to a tendency to start fires. His left heel tapped the wall in unison with the beat in his head. John didn't start whispering the lyrics until it was precisely the right time to do so:

Strange zoo, strange blaze

Douse my head in flames
Coming through to get some

Happiness is a bad son

Forceps, kitchen tools

Destruct your every move

Feels better when you're here

Guillotine just got here

Bend back, back break

Please yourself to make it rate

Live it all at your own cost

So many just got lost

Leaning to fire

Leaning to fire

Leaning to fire

Here's tomorrow man

Chasing wha—

"All set?"

His eyes remained closed as he replied with a simple and sarcastic no. His left foot dropped to the floor and then he opened his eyes. John's brows narrowed at the sight of Kitty.

"Too much?" she asked, referring to the black wool ski mask covering everything but her eyes and her smile.

"A tad, but it's not exactly out of place . . ."

Kitty gripped the top of the mask and pulled it off. "Messing with the security system is more my style." She quickly glanced at both ends of the hall before phasing her hand through the door, dropping the mask inside.

Iceman waved the second-player controller at Rogue, who was comfortably sprawled out along the width of the queen-size bed. "Come on . . . you know you want to kick my ass." He shook it a few more times and extended his arm as far as possible over the footboard railing.

It only took a moment before she accepted the controller. "Okay, but on one condition. I'm playing as Subzero."

"Subzero is all yours," he agreed, instantly. Bobby beamed a ray of white teeth at her, raised his arm over the foot of the bed, and patted the empty space next to him.

Halfway down the hall, Kitty stopped short. John looked at her expecting an explanation. "Wh-"

Before he could finish, she pulled John into a pitch-black janitor's closet. They stood still in the unfamiliar environment.

"I don't remember spinning the bottle. That's fine, I'm game. You can pretend I'm Bobby," he teased. John waited a few seconds before adding, "What's taking so long? I thought you would've tackled me by now like a lioness in hea—"

-click-

Kitty had turned on the light, which consisted of a single naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. She caught the fire starter smiling broadly and protecting his groin with both hands. She made a noise in disgust and phased herself out of the closet.

"Kitty! Wait!" yelled John from inside the closet. "There is no doorknob on this end. I'm stuck!" He waited thirty seconds for a reply. "Kitty?"

Standing in front of the door, Kitty crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She enjoyed listening to him swear at her, and then apologize immediately after. When she felt she'd made her point, she harshly grabbed his sweatshirt and pulled him out of the closet, purposely making him lose his balance so that he would fall. "Not cool," he said, glaring up at her from the floor.

She shrugged. "Just giving you a taste of what you're in for when you push my buttons. I'm capable of a lot worse . . . believe me." She outstretched her arm, offering to help him off the floor. When he went to grab her hand, his hand went straight through hers. She smirked. "Get up," Kitty ordered. "We've got a job to do." She turned on her heels and strode down the hall with a triumphant bounce to each step.

The pyromaniac frowned. Without a doubt, she was beating him at his own game. He picked himself off the floor and continued down the hall. To catch up to her, he upped his pace to a jog. Aligned shoulder to shoulder with Kitty, he asked, "So why the sudden seven minutes in bleachy heaven?"

"I heard someone coming. It was a mistake. Well, the closet part. My training is different than yours. The main goal in most of my sessions is to be undetected," Kitty explained, while they descended the stairs.

After a few games of Mortal Kombat, Rogue stopped to take a nap. She'd been sprawled out on the bed for over twenty minutes. Iceman set the controller down and picked himself off the floor. He pushed the door to the bathroom open and turned on the light. Veronica blinked a few times and then squinted at the mutant in front of her.

Iceman extended his hand toward her face. "I'm going to take that out . . . don't try to bite me." His hand inched closer. "And be quiet." As soon as the towel was removed Veronica spat in the tub near the drain. He tossed the towel on the toilet tank.

"Thanks, Icy."

"Excuse me while I do my business," he said as he closed the shower curtain.

"Don't be shy. It's been a while since I saw a man with his pants down. Porn doesn't count—it's like watching fireworks or sports on television—it's not the same."

'Why did I allow her to speak? I wish she would shut up so I could go. Why on earth am I thinking about a man with no pants? Focus, Bobby. Focus. Ahh.' He zipped up, flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and pulled the shower curtain open.

She instantly commented on his most prominent feature. "John didn't tell me your eyes are as blue as tropical waters."

"You've been outside the United States?"

"With my parents when I was younger. What about you?"

He shook his head, and then added, "I haven't killed anyone either."

"You've just killed the conversation and the mood. Way to go," she said, monotonously.

"I'm looking for something that belongs to you. It's sharp. Where is it?"

"I don't know wh-" she started, her tone soft and innocent but she stopped herself. He knew too much. "Kiss me and I'll tell you. Just one meaningless kiss, that's all it will take."

Even though it took less than a second to come up with an answer, he made her wait for it. He moved closer to her and bent down. Bobby grinned and said evenly, "If only the circumstances were different." The grin faded as he stood up straight and took a couple of steps back to lean on the sink. "Plus John told me you knocked him out with a punch. Head-to-head contact would probably put me out for a few days. I'm not taking that chance. Even if you did succeed, you'd still be stuck in that tub. I could protect myself, but nevertheless, I'm not giving you the least bit of satisfaction."

Her patience was wearing thin. Veronica's brows narrowed, her jaw tightened and her eyes locked onto his. "You mutant piece of shit. You've just lost the only chance of finding it."

Bobby laughed. "You weren't going to tell me anyway. That would've been too easy. I figured it would've saved me some time, so I gave it a shot." He shrugged and reached over to his left and picked up the hand towel.

A/N: Please review. Even if it's just to say 'hurry up and don't take months to update' it'll be read and cherished!

Lire et Réexaminer, Διάβασα και επανεξέταση, पढ़ना व समीक्षा, Lesen Sie und Überprüfen Sie, Прочетете и преглед, 閱讀和檢查, 読んで、批評を書いてください, 읽기 및 검토

Note: On my profile, I keep a list of the stories I'm currently working on and date them, so keep checking for updates. Eventually, I'll note that the next chapter is almost finished and will be updated very soon.