Summary: Rogue found a serum that could enable her to touch for 8 hours (and 8 hours ONLY!!). So what should she do when she has to spend an indefinite amount of THAT time being stuck in room with John? Post-X2, so Rogue and Bobby are with the X-Men and John's with da big bad Brotherhood.
Pairing: Hmm, if you'd read my stuff before, you'd know, hehehe... But really recognizing the whole Bobby/Rogue/John triangle, though. There are both John/Rogue and Bobby/Rogue.
Disclaimer: Gosh, if I owned the X-Men, you'd be seeing this stuff on the screen, instead of on the wonderful fanfiction.net. All are owned by Marvel, Stan Lee, and Brian Singer, I suppose. I don't know. I just studied copyright law in uni and trust me, it's all very complicated. Apparently one item can contain a sh*tload of copyrights. So yeah, mainly I just wanna say that I owned nothing besides the idea/plot, so don't sue my ass.
A/N: Well, I wrote this because of my endless unquenchable thirst for my fave pairing fic. Okay, okay, I'll say it. I LOVE ryros… But the thing is I also love Bobby as a character. Just saw X2 the other day again (don't ask how) and I so totally don't hate Bobby with Rogue. I just think that John is incredibly hot (no pun intended) and that he'd be 'steamy' with Rogue. I like the whole forbidden fruit idea. But since I don't hate Bobby, the Bobby/Rogue pairing is always going to be acknowledged in my stories.
A/N2: Okay, little virtual silver star stickers to anyone who knows where I got the idea for my story from! Well, I'm a big Dark Angel fan as well (actually the only other fic I'm writing for) and basically it had a similar plot to Rogue's situation: the heroine couldn't touch the 'man of her dream' (tho I am SO NOT shipping for that pairing and hence the apostrophes) and at one point was given like 12 or 20 hrs, during which she could touch him. So yeah, I'm totally ripping the idea off. But look for DA reference for those of you who like the show too!
TOUCH
Chapter 1: Stuck.
*Swish, flick, swish, flick*
"Would you cut that out?!"
"Someone's got their panties in a bunch."
"I don't… It's just that… Oh just shut up." Rogue added after a note, "And don't talk about my panties."
"Alright… Suit yourself."
*Swish, flick, swish, flick*
Rogue could not believe that this was how her night was going down. Approximately four hours ago, the professor had called her to give what could possibly the best news she'd received in months. They'd found a serum – a cure, really – for her 'condition'. This particular miracle liquid would act to neutralize her mutation, enabling her to have physical human contact for the first time in years. There was only one catch. It was temporary. Eight hours to be exact. After that, bye-bye nice human skin and hello leather gloves!
Still, words could not describe how Rogue was feeling at that moment. She could touch! This meant that for all she cared, she could strip naked and rub herself against every available living soul in the mansion.
Well, not quite.
For her, it was really more about the simple things, you know. Like shaking hands. She'd really love to shake the Professor's hand, congratulating him for housing all these wayward mutants and giving them a proper education (and in a school with jets!). She'd like to give Logan a kiss in the cheek for looking out for her. And she'd do it in front of the other kids too, just to see that nice tomato color creeping up his rough Wolverine face. She would even sit her heinie down for a silly little makeover from Kitty. Or maybe do those silly little pillow fights…
But, yeah, above all, she'd like to touch Bobby. She'd want to do things other girls could do with their boyfriends. Hug, hold hands, kiss, make out… Well, you know, stuff that she'd be embarrassed about if the professor were to probe her mind at that moment.
Speaking of the professor…
"Rogue? Why don't you suit up? I'll have Cyclops and Storm prepare the Jet. Ask Mr. Drake to come along as well. I'm sure he would be more than willing to be your first test subject for this serum."
Rogue – praying that that statement did not come from a recent mind probing – nodded and eagerly looked for Bobby. His face just absolutely lit up when she told him. It had been rough, these past few months for him. First his family sold him out to the cops then John walked out on him. So having Rogue delivered that news to him was like winning a proverbial million bucks, really.
An hour later, the two of them, Cyclops, and Storm were making their way through this secret medical facility. Apparently, it had been set up as a research center to 'tackle the mutant problem'. After about twenty minutes of searching, they found their prize. Rogue didn't feel any different, but she felt so happy when Bobby was able to touch her cheek without turning all pale and veiny. She was sure that Cyclops and Storm looked mightily uncomfortable when she and Bobby started kissing after that.
But, alas, who should barged in on their party at that moment, but Magneto and his merry band of mutants. Rogue had to admit that it was quite awkward to see John again. And she could definitely feel Bobby tensing up beside her.
They exchanged the usual pleasantries and banters. After figuring out that Magneto would use something he acquired tonight to slot an ugly fate for humanity, the X-men couldn't help but start the hostilities. Soon, Mystique was gracefully hopping all over the place while Cyclops tried to blast her and Storm was doing a pretty good job of zapping away Magneto's, uh, 'magnetic advances'.
Meanwhile, on her side of the ring, Bobby and John were engaged in a battle that basically supported those early scientists' basic theory of fire and water neutralizing each other. Rogue did not know what to do. It was obvious that the two of them were so focused on each other that they didn't listen to what she was saying. At some point, while she was yelling at John from behind him, Bobby managed to get a hit, sending a train of ice straight into his chest. Unfortunately, the force was enough to send both him and Rogue tumbling into the next room.
Bobby, stricken with worry, let his guards down, which allowed John to retaliate with a massive blast of flame. Two seconds later, alarm bells started to whine throughout the compound and, before Bobby could reach her, thick doors slid down, effectively sealing Rogue and John in the room.
Rogue had tried the communicator attached to her suit, but found her link jammed by some sort of device in the facility. From what she could gather from the very bad connection, the other five on the other side were finding their escape route blocked as door after door sealed off in the compound. And she figured that the doors were not made from pure metal since Magneto was having trouble moving them. She didn't know what the others were going to do; whether they'd try to find a way out and call for backup, or stay and face the stormtroopers. What she knew was that she and John were going to be stuck there for a considerable portion of her 'touchy-touchy' time.
To say that she was disappointed was an understatement. Because it wasn't like she could stuck another needle in her arm and be all touch-happy after her first eight hours were up. Apparently after the first exposure, her body would develop some sort of resistance to the serum, rendering it 'harmless' to her. Dumb-ass human scientists haven't got the technology perfect, she thought.
Which brought us back to present time. Rogue was slumped down against the door, apparently giving up after forty-five minutes of pounding her fists against it. John was sitting against one of the side walls, playing with his lighter. He had tried directing a jet of flame against the door, but to no avail. Unfortunately, his efforts – combined with the fact that there was only a single ventilation duct in the ceiling and the shutting down of the aircon after the siren – only made the tiny room incredibly hot.
The room itself wasn't claustrophobic. One wall was lined with bottles and a bench (like a kitchen island) stood in the middle of the room. There was enough room to move around, but there wasn't any chair. So the two mutants were forced to sit down on the floor.
John watched as Rogue started to calm down after her earlier frenzy to get out. He wondered why she was so desperate to escape. Sure, she was cut off from the rest of her team, and of course those moron humans with their guns were going to pour down them on them anytime now, but it wasn't like the rest of them weren't going to find a way out eventually. So John figured that the two of them should just sit tight and wait it out.
Maybe she was just claustrophobic, John reasoned. Or maybe she just doesn't want to be stuck with you…
Personally, John doesn't mind at all to be trapped alone with Rogue. In fact, out of all the people he could possibly be stuck with, he'd choose Rogue any day. He'd always had, he supposed, a little crush on her ever since she came to the school. She was cute and he got eyes. So sue him. When everyone sort of freaked out about her power, he actually found it fascinating. As a fire manipulator, he marveled at touching something normally untouchable. So above anything, he'd wanted to touch her. But of course, perfect, cool (no pun intended), best buddy Bobby Drake swooped in then and claimed her as his. John didn't let their relationship bother him though. In fact, he tagged along whenever he could. He masked it as an attempt to piss Bobby off and as a part of his 'who gives a rat's ass' persona, but in truth, he did it to hang out with her. He wasn't in love with her or anything, but he was definitely drawn to her. When he went off with Magneto, the one thing he missed the most was his time with Rogue (which involved Bobby as well, since the happy couple was rarely apart, to John's annoyance).
Anyway, going back to the present situation… John, who very much disliked uncomfortable silences, decided to quip, "So how's it going, Rogue?"
Rogue didn't answer immediately. Instead she focused her attention on stripping away her leather gloves, obviously feeling hot in her suit. "You mean after you abandoned us?"
Ouch. Well, she's going to bring THAT up sooner or later…
John sighed. "I made a choice, Rogue. I was sick of being treated as a kid. I wasn't going to be ashamed of my power."
"The professor doesn't make us ashamed…"
"Yeah, but he wants you to play polite when all humanity wants us dead. How can he expect us to feel proud of our gifts when we have to constantly hide them from the world?"
"That's real nice, John. Be all you can be, right? And if some people get killed on the way, well, that's just part of your proud mutant identity." Rogue replied sarcastically. Ironically, that side of her was usually brought on by John-in-her-head. "Magneto is a ruthless killer! Have you forgotten what he did on Liberty Island? What he did to me? How could you join him?"
"Rogue, I'll never forget about that…" John paused, finding it hard to justify his membership in the Brotherhood to Rogue, "But you just got to understand that Xavier's fighting a losing battle. Humans will never accept us. Magneto is going to get things done and he doesn't hold you back."
"So basically you follow him because he lets you blow things up once in a while. And who cares, right, if he wants to kill off humanity along the way?"
Despite the seriousness of her tone, John couldn't help but chuckle. "Rogue, I see that we're never going to agree about this. Let me just ask you this, have you ever wished that you could use your full potential power without holding back? That you could just touch people and steal all their memories and feelings and powers? I bet you'd find it exhilarating."
Rogue had to pause before she answered, "No. I can't take more voices in my head. I wish to be rid of this 'gift', to tell you the truth." Then she added under her breath, "I can't believe that when I finally did that tonight, I'm stuck here…"
John apparently didn't miss that, "What did you say?"
Rogue, who started banging on the door again, acted as if she didn't hear him.
John got up and approached her, "Rogue, you said something just then. What was it?"
Still pouncing on the door, Rogue sighed, "It's nothing, really. Forget I said anything."
John wasn't going to let her go, though. "No, you said something important, about being rid of your power…"
*Pound, pound*
"Rogue, listen!" He boldly grabbed one of her gloveless hands to stop her from pounding. When he didn't feel the sucking force of her mutation, he smirked, "I guess my hearing was right, after all."
Rogue turned around with a defeated look on her face. "It's not permanent. It only lasts eight hours. After that, I'm back to being hazardous material. And no, it's a one-time thing."
"So let me get this straight. You finally found some sort of cure that lets you touch for eight hours and you're stuck here with me for perhaps most of that time?"
Rogue nodded limply.
John whistled, "No wonder you're pissed. And I can only imagine what Drake's must be feeling on the other side of that door. Man, he's gotta be blowing up a gasket! Or a snowstorm, in his case…"
"This is so unfair. Someone up there just doesn't want me to be happy… Hey, what are you doing?!"
Rogue just realized that John had just put his other hand – the one that's not holding on to hers – on her cheeks. She had to admit that it felt good, though, to feel a simple human touch after all that time. And John felt especially warm from his nicely heated body – courtesy of his mutation, she supposed – that Rogue could not help but lean herself to his palm.
Meanwhile, John, who noticed her slight movement, smiled, "I'm just checking. After all that 'look but don't touch' that you got going on, I just want to know what it was all about."
"And?"
John pretended to assess her skin, lightly grazing his fingers across her cheeks. Rogue reminded herself that she should not make any noise that slightly resembled a purr. That would just be embarrassing. "Uh, a bit coarse in some area. You could do with a bit of those scrubby things Kitty was always on about…"
Rogue seemed to snap back at that point. She shoved his hand away. "Take your hands off me, John, and go sit back down."
John put up his hands, "Hey, I was just kidding!"
And he WAS kidding. Frankly, Rogue's skin felt exactly how he'd always imagined it to be: Creamy like butter, cool like rain, and soft like marshmallow. Immediately after he thought it, he felt like an idiot. Like those morons in those dumb-ass romance movies I was made to suffer through, back at the mansion. Still, Rogue's skin felt so good to touch that he had to hold himself from moving his hand down her neck… which would have required him to unzip a bit of her bothersome, but very sexy, leather suit. Yup, he'd sure to get Rogue's hand permanently imprinted on his face if he tried that stunt. He just wouldn't look formidable, you know, as a member of the Brotherhood if he had a big-ass hand imprint on his head. That was why he quickly retracted his hand and why he gave her that comment, which, as expected, did not make her happy.
John decided to add an afterthought, "Your skin was all moist and silky and stuff, Rogue. You got nothing to worry about. I'm sure Bobby would be very pleased with it." He eyed the door and quipped under his breath, "That is if we ever get out of here…"
"We will. They're going to get us out soon. We just have to be patient." Rogue tried to summon the rational part of her, which was quite hard with both Wolverine and John inside her head (in addition to Magneto and Bobby). Wolverine was rooting for her and 'actual' John to pound the doors together, which John and Magneto somewhat supported. Magneto-in-her-head thought that they could either try blasting their way through or wait until those pathetic humans open the door for them (at which point, they should blast their way through anyway). John-in-her-head was telling her to just sit tight and take advantage of the situation, especially with 'real' John in the room with her, *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*. Rogue felt herself chasing him around in her head with a baseball bat. The only sane voice, as far as she was concerned, was Bobby's, who had so much optimism in the rescue party on the other side of the door. But Bobby-in-her-head was often bullied by Magneto, and sometimes even Logan, that Rogue found it hard to listen to him.
Rogue was brought back to the land of the solid by John's voice. She noticed that he was back to where he sat and was playing with his zippo. She shrugged off her inner musing, "What did you say?"
"I was just saying that, you know, since you only got these eight hours… and we don't know when we're going to get out… you know, there are other things that we could be doing, Rogue…"
John said all that without looking at her, so she didn't know how serious he was. But his tone told her that he wasn't kidding. She found it surprising that she didn't find the proposal (was it a proposal?) preposterous. However, she still hung on to that Bobby-in-her-head (and also Magneto since he was the only remotely optimistic one. John-in-her-head was now lying unconscious, if that's possible, after her inner Rogue swung a good one at him). Rogue decided to dismiss him. "They're going to get us out soon. Just… just stay there and be quiet, okay?"
"Just pointing out a fact, Rogue." He nonchalantly shrugged, "I'll be here if you need me." He started flicking his zippo again.
*Swish, flick, swish, flick*
Rogue pretended to look annoyed, but could not help sneak a glance at her companion. Should I be worried that that begins to look endearing?
*Swish, flick, swish, flick*
A/N: This is not how it ends. There are more, peeps! So yeah, tell me what you think so far. I've already got an idea on how to continue this, but I'm free to suggestions. What should Rogue do? What should John do? What should Bobby do? Also, what do you think about their characterizations? Since, I'm trying to do slight humor, their characters may be a bit different.