Chapter 11 – Weekend Camping – Hurt Feelings

Saturday Morning

It was 7am when Rogue woke up. She pushed back her blanket and moaned uncomfortable, the inside of the tent was so hot. It was unbearable. When the young woman noticed she was almost out of air, she quickly opened the tent's zip and placed her head out.

Gambit and his girlfriend were putting their backpacks already, "Couldn't sleep either, huh?" asked the young man.

"Gosh! It's so hot in here! It looks like I'm being cooked alive."

The other two laughed a little.

"We're going to the river, right now. Wanna join us?"

"Nah…I think I'll try to sleep outside a little more."

X-23 opened her mouth to say something, but Remy shut her.

"Is John still sleeping?" asked Rogue while putting her airbed outside.

"Yup." Answered X, "I think he can sleep very well inside, since his mutation is fire and all."

"Well, we're going, Rogue. See ya later."

Rogue nodded and fell asleep right away.

"We should have told her that isn't the brightest idea, Remy!" murmured X-23 when they were a little further.

"Oh, chère, we learned through our own experience, so let her live the same experience."

"Being all bitten by a bunch of ants and many other kind of disgusting insects isn't the best experience."

"Don't remind me, I'm still itchy." Gambit scratch his whole body.

In fact, Rogue soon woke up, victim of insects' bites. She felt so upset and desperate that she entered in John's tent and yelled:

"Wake up, sunshine! It's time to wake up!"

"Damn, Rogue! What do you think you're doing?" John kicked the girl to make her leave the tent, but she was persistent and stronger than him.

Pulling him out, Rogue explained him how known else from the team could sleep, so he should wake up too.

"One more reason to sleep." Said John. "I'll be full charged for the next activities."

"Don't give me that excuse, John Allycerd. I want to take a bath…or what is more similar to a bath in the middle of the woods…and you're going with me!"

Well, if she was going to take a bath, of course John couldn't decline the invitation. The two were walking for two hours already and the river was nowhere to be found.

"We're lost, aren't we John?"

"Of course not! We..huh…We just took the furthest root. We must be almost there…"

Rogue sighed, she knew they were lost and that she should had went with Gambit and X-23 sooner. "Let's go back, John! I'm tired!"

"We're close! Can't you hear the water?"

"Not real."

But John was right, they soon arrived to a small river; however it wasn't the same they were looking for. If it was the others would be there, and Ororo's team was camping near.

"Where are we?" asked Rogue staring at the lake.

"I don't know…" the young man admitted, also staring at the lake discouraged.

"Well, let's take a bath right here." Rogue said while taking off her clothes. John tried not to look to the girl in her bikini, staring at the water. "The left side of the lake is mine. Don't come near me, I don't want to touch you accidentally."

John nodded still not looking at the young woman. He felt uncomfortable being alone with her…with her in a bikini, that is.

"Ahhh! It's wonderful! Aren't you coming in, fire man?"

John dived into the river and started to swim to lighten the tension in his whole body. When he finally stopped Rogue was already outside, all wrapped up in a long and heavy red towel, shaking.

He came out of the water, "That's my towel."

"I'm sorry, John" She said and gave him back the towel, "I think I forgot my towel inside my tent. But it's ok, I'll dry with this sun easily."

Watching to her shaking body, John wrapped her again in the towel, "You're shaking." He said moving the girl near him and scrubbing her arms.

Rogue almost touched his wet body and shyly looked up to him. John's strong and serious face was intimidating but his warm eyes gave him up. They weren't scary at all, quite the contrary; Rogue felt secure and serene staring inside them. The girl felt his hands movements slowing down and moving towards her back, pushing her to his chest. She let herself go, the towel was protecting them, and there was no fear. Feeling John's body through the towel, Rogue noticed how hot he was. Or was she who was hot? She definitely was blushing. Why was his face so close to hers? She could already feel his unsteady breath on her mouth. And why the hell wasn't she backing away?

Rogue felt her body leaning to him even more, searching for his comfortable embrace. "John…" she murmured when his lips were almost touching hers.

"Rogue…" he said staring at the small distance between their lips. John saw the girl shutting her eyes and he wished to kiss her so badly.

She didn't know why she was doing that, all needy. She hated to look such a needy and easy girl. She hated to be so… vulnerable. But he was John, he wouldn't judge her, he wouldn't care if she looked vulnerable. No matter how she looked, he would…he would accept her.

Or so she thought…

Suddenly he grabbed her arms and forced her to move away. She opened up her eyes in surprise and she couldn't see the warm anymore.

Rogue stood there, wrapped in the towel, her hair still dripping, her mouth slightly opened but incapable to project any sound.

"We should get back. It's getting late." She heard John's words as sharpened razors cutting her heart and mind. What happened? Why did he…why? Staring at his back as he walked away, Rogue felt the tears threatening to come out.

She felt wounded. She showed him her weak side, her caring, lonely, vulnerable side. She practically said I want you and he…he rejected her like that.

Rogue was a proud girl, she liked to pretend she was tough and lately she was more like a spoiled and crybaby. Why was she becoming someone she despites so much? Her fights with Logan made her look like a kid, her short temperament made her look like a spoiled girl, her winning made her look like…

She was becoming too emotional. Her head started to hurt but she kept quiet and followed John. It was enough.

Masion-X

Beast turned off the tape that Trish landed him. His girlfriend was at the Genosha's War filming to broadcast later on the news, but it was too morbid to show everyone. And there were scenes that would compromise certain mutants, one of them, she knew, was important to Hank.

He saw his friends' reactions. Jean with sad eyes; Charles certainly blaming himself for not noticing that sooner and thinking what he could do now; and Logan, indecipherable but tense.

"Rogue is out of control." Said the Professor, finally. They were watching her transformation in battle and it was scary.

"I'm going to get her."

"No, Logan. This weekend may be good to her. She may relax and have fun, that's what Rogue needs right now. She can't get too emotionally or she may explode. Go and keep an eye on things. But remember, don't push her."

After Logan went away, the other three fell in silence. They all knew what an uncontrolled mutant could provoke. Also, they were all aware part of the phoenix was inside of her. Despite they believe it was too weak to have an impact, it was always a risk.

Camping

Sturday, 2.00pm

All the teams were eating what they had hunt or fish, except for Rogue's team which members were annoyed, tired and embarrassed. X-23 and Gambit were yelling at each other while Rogue and John were quietly staring at the water pretending to be fishing.

"Look at them…" said X-23 pointing at the other teams. They were all eating fish or meat. "What is wrong with us?"

"Mon Dieu!" exclaimed Remy, "Look at Mystique! She's eating home-made food!"

"Hey! That's not fair, Raven!" John said, "You're eating Dave's food!"

"I'm in charge here, young man! You can eat this tonight, but right now you should try to find your own food."

"But we can't…"

"It's like some higher power is against us…" Rogue whispered staring at the bright sky.

"Really…?" next to Rogue, X followed her eyes up in the sky, imagining what this higher power could be. "Like a god, Rogue?"

The young woman nodded, "Hmm-hmm. A wicked god who plans to torture us, mere pawns in a huge and complex universe."

"I bet is laughing at us right now. A perverse laugh…"

Remy and John were staring at the girls, how could they imagine such things?

"We have enough food to split with you." Ororo announced. "We're going to climb a mountain and you can't go with an empty stomach."

"Really?" X asked. "You're really giving us your food?" The girl wasn't used to receive help from anyone and Ororo's words touched her.

"Of course, child. Come, sit with us."

"Thank you, so much!"

As they sat near the others, Dave noticed that John's feelings were more conflicted than usual and saw Rogue in is thoughts. Although he tried his best to read Rogue's feelings it was in vain but he saw her looking at the young man with sad and wounded eyes. Something had happen between the two. Dave couldn't resist and read John's mind, he saw his conflict between caring deeply for Rogue and his personal mission. John was a traitor, he would reject love. Dave new that kind of people: too afraid to be happy, a little like himself actually; the mission would always be more important than anything else, than anyone else. And he was forgetting his own mission, he should stop focusing on Rogue and that kid, he had to investigate everyone secrets and create conflict between the x-men.

Looking to the young couple, Iceman and Shadowcat he decided to start with those two. They didn't had any secret that could ruin their relationship, so he played with their emotions, making them feel angry and tired with each other presence. It was a subtle change of feelings so no one else could realize.

When the teams arrived to the mountains, Ororo was feeling depressed and went back to the camp to meditate. She was extra cautious with her feelings since she knew about her pregnancy so she meditated a lot this days, t helped her. Dave was the cause of her depressed feelings, but new she was difficult to control because of Ororo's geat conscious about her inner self.

As soon as he discovered Remy's dark past, it was easy to make him feel guilty and angry. He was angry with himself and that was the worst someone could feel. Making X-23 more sensible to her own fear of rejection the two would soon be unbearable, not only to each other but to everyone around them.

"You stupid, arrogant boy!" Wanda yelled when her team was already climbing the mountain. "I told you this wasn't the best path to climb the mountain, now we're lost Pietro!"

"Shut up! No one else had a better idea!"

"I bet you did this on purpose." Murmured Bobby. "You want us to loose this proof…or maybe even die. Tell the true, you're still working under Magneto's orders, Pietro."

"He did the best he could, Bobby, stop accusing everyone."

"Oh, now you're defending your new boyfriend?" Bobby asked Kitty in a rough tone.

"Don't talk to her like that. She deserves someone much better than you, icy." Pietro yelled.

Above them, Medusa was laughing, "Is this your doing, Dave?"

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

Medusa laugh, "Finally! The show has begun."