Spun

By Liz Wyatt

Chapter 16: Human

There's one way out and one way in

Back to the beginning

There's one way back to home again

To where I feel forgiven

What is this I feel, why is it so real

What am I to say

It's only love, it's only pain

It's only fear, that run through my veins

It's all the things you can't explain

That make us human

-Civil Twilight

The noise outside the thin wooden door forced Rogue to stand cemented in place. She stretched her hearing to make out a woman yelling obscenities in the distance between booming vibrations that shook the building's walls.

At first there was a loud thud as through something or someone had been tossed into the hinges. Then there was a consistent repetition of that sound followed with low moans of pain. From under the door crack Rogue could see the shadows shifting quickly as smoke filled the lit space.

"Rogue!" John called as he grabbed her arm. The smoke was already billowing under and beginning to take over the room.

Rogue snapped out of it, following the pull of her arm. "Can't you do something!? You know, lower the flame so the smoke will stop?" she yelled above everything else.

He couldn't believe she was criticizing him at the moment.

"hey! First of all I'd have to be able to at least see or have some idea where the flame actually was. Secondly, THAT is not fire smoke! It's a smoke bomb or at least some sort of gas. Can't you smell the difference?" she shook her head quickly in confusion.

"guess not." He answered for her.

"we got to get out of here." Rogue stated while walking out of his grasp. She scrambled to a window and threw is open.

He rushed to her side.

"What now? We can't jump down that far. Unless you can fly Roguey, I think we are a bit screwed."

"well thanks for that helpful suggestion Pyro! Now shut up and let me think." She scanned the room quickly.

As she did this the floor above them shook, releasing plaster to rain down on them.

"great…" Rogue mumbled while pushing dust off her hair.

John looked around outside the windows. Then he ran to the bedroom and tried to open the smudged glass. It wouldn't budge so he shoved his boot into it.

"what are you doing?" Rogue demanded.

"finding a solution. What's it look like?" he wiped away the excess glass with his jacket.

"it looks like you're a crazy person."

He smiled at that which caused Rogue's furrowed brow to ease a bit.

"so genius, what are we going to do then?"

"the fire escape is just a bit over from here." He stated while popping the frame off the window.

Rogue looked out the window.

"that fire escape is on another building."

"yeah…" John said with a condescending tone.

"so, how the hell are we meant to get all that way?"

"momentum." John grinned wickedly. Rogue could tell that he was proud of himself for finding a way out; however, Rogue wasn't so sure he'd come up with a good plan. True the buildings weren't too far away if you had a rope to swing from, but to jumping seemed impossible.

Just then the door's top hinge broke free and sputtered across the room.

"now or never Rogue." He scanned her terrified expression and crossed the space between them. He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll go first."

He backed up as far as he could. His hands balled into fists at his side. He was trying to control his breathing as if he was a swimmer going into a dive. He had to tear his eyes away from Rogue's face in order to muster all his brazen courage that he had found before. He was closing his eyes.

Rogue stared in horror for what would happen next.

"wait!" she yelled and walked over to his position.

"god dammit Rogue!" he said frustrated.

"just…don't fall okay?"

"well…that would be the plan…" he chuckled with anxiety.

She held his hand for a moment. Their eyes met once again and she nodded with an encouraging smile.

He took a deep breath and lunged. Sprinting, to the window he stepped on the old radiator beneath it and then the windowsill. His body flung out of the building. He extended his arms to reach out for the old metal above him. John could almost touch it as the bar he'd been reaching for whipped further above him and his rib collided with the railing instead. Curling over the railing in pain, with the wind knocked out o him, John melded his body to hold on. Swinging one leg over the railing and then flinging the other over, he landed on his back with a thud while holding his ribs and swearing loudly.

Rogue knew he had made it, but seeing him in pain only reinforced her lack of enthusiasm for John's plan.

"you okay?" she yelled while leaning out the window.

He rolled up slowly and stood on the wired platform. He raised a hand signaling her to not worry. He had a tight smile plastered on his face.

"okay, your turn." He said, breathing slowly.

"right…" Rogue said with a voice higher than her own.

"I'm right here!" he yelled to reassure her, though it didn't help much.

"well I know that! But see I'm here!" she backed up as far as she could and told herself to calm down. It wasn't working. The door burst open as a man dressed in black ops gear looked left and then right. Right, to where she was now frozen.

'run! Shut up and just run!' a voice yelled inside her head. Rogue recognized it as Teva's, not her own.

'trust him and run!'

Without hesitation she began running towards the window.

"what are you doing!? Freeze!" the man called out, but Rogue was already one foot out of the window and hurling her body to John's platform. Like John, she knew she wouldn't reach the bar above; however, her body was falling quicker than his had. She zoomed past his waiting hand and found herself falling.

"Rogue!" John cried out.

Rogue shut her eyes, waiting for the impact to come. It never came. She opened her eyes to see that she was hovering a few feet from the ground. Her body panicked then and she fell the rest of the distance with less momentum. It still hurt her and she definitely felt the scraps across her exposed forearms. Her body had also landed in what she could assume was a dirty puddle.

There was a racket coming from above her. She rolled onto her back in pain. She tried to lift her arm to wipe the mud away from her cheek. Beside her a ladder shattered to the ground and a body was thrown from it.

John, she thought.

He quickly got up and ran to her side.

"my god. How? You…and I couldn't reach you…what the fuck just happened!?"

"you think I know?" she said with a moan. "help me up you idiot."

His eyes widened and he nodded before pulling her up to her feet.

"you okay?"

"I'll live, which a few minutes ago didn't seem likely." She smiled.

"okay, you're just going to accept what happened? You. The girl with a thousand questions and who overanalyzes everything."

"John, there are government agents with guns inside that building. Normally you'd be the one telling me to shut up and move now."

He paused, thinking.

"fine. Shut up and move?"

"there ya go." She wheezed in her breaths as they tried to hurry out of the alleyway.

After walking for a while, John told her that they could rest on a bench. She was still covered in mud and not liking it one bit. The cold substance had begun to harden and become crusty. The pedestrians were a bit too curious at her state as well.

"John, I need to get cleaned up. I'm beginning to smell."

"yeah…thing is we can't exactly go to my old places. Apparently, the gov is tracking mutant hostels and the brotherhood will be watching my contacts."

"we could call the professor or Storm." She offered.

He turned to her contemplating the idea. For a second she thought he would give in; however, his eyes clouded and the notion had passed him by.

She tried again, "or we could get a hotel room?"

"and with what money?" he was pacing in front of her.

"why not sneak in somewhere then?" he paused, glancing over the mud that enveloped her and his own jacket from where he had helped her along.

"it'd have to be unoccupied…" he muttered to himself.

After a bit of silence as a couple pushed a stroller past them, Rogue was struck with a new idea. "or we could just go to my old roommate's new apartment."

"what?"

"she's going to NYU now since leaving the institute." Rogue stood up then, looking at the street name. She was assessing her new plan.

"won't she just rat you out to the school? I'm not taking that chance. Sorry kiddo, but you can do that alone." Rogue saw him pacing away from her so she pulled his jacket arm to spin back and face her.

"look, John we really don't have any options now. I played it your way, but now you've got to play it mine." She demanded with authority.

He smirked at her as she gripped his arm. "well, lead the way then miss bossy."

"shut up." She said angrily.

"whatever you say." He added sarcastically.

They found the NYU apartments after a few hours of walking. Rogue was really getting beyond the point of being able to stand the smell coming off her. John had even dropped back a bit away from her.

She approached the stoop and turned to face him. He looked at her confused.

"just…let me do the talking." She said cautiously.

"Rogue, it's not like she'll throw us out. I mean you two were friends right?" he stated.

She didn't respond, but her eyes betrayed her.

"right?" he tried again, growing a bit louder as if she didn't hear him.

"well…"

"she's not even a friend Rogue!? What the hell are we doing here. God, you know what-" he fumed.

"-hey! I know it's not ideal, but it'll work. We weren't the best of friends and she was only my roommate for a few months before she left because no one wanted to room with me…and besides once she sees us she can't just refuse…" Rogue tried to sound sure of herself.

John pushed past her and grabbed the door as someone was exiting the building. The girl smiled at John and paused in disgust at Rogue's appearance.

"nothing to see. Move along." Rogue yelled as the girl all but ran down the street.

"come on, you're scaring the locals now." John motioned for her to go through the door.

Once inside they saw NYU posters everywhere. They trudged up the old staircase to the top floor. He knocked for the both of them.

The door quickly opened and a guy appeared in the doorway.

"I'm guessing you're not Ruby." John stated.

"nope. Can I help you?" he asked while looking at Rogue with a laugh. She rolled her eyes in frustration and was about to tell this new guy off when John interrupted her.

"Just need to see Ruby if she's around. We're…old friends."

He looked as though he didn't quite believe them, but he couldn't find any reason to block their access so he yelled over his shoulder for the girl they'd been looking for.

The guy was then replaced by a tall thin girl with platinum blonde hair. She looked like a supermodel Rogue thought. Long legs to make up for the lack of chest.

"Hello?" Ruby wavered.

"hi…" John started, but looked to Rogue to speak.

Ruby followed John's gaze.

"Rogue?" she asked while squinting her eyes to try and make out her former roommate under the mud.

"yeah…it's me."

"what happened to you?" Ruby laughed slightly.

"fell into some…stuff. Look I know I have no right to ask for this but we kind of need a place just to…regroup and shower. I didn't know anyone else in town…so I was hoping you'd be okay with this?"

Ruby pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest.

"Rogue, really what are you doing here? Shouldn't your big boyfriend be saving you from this sort of situation?"

Rogue held in her quick rush of anger.

"no. he's not with me. I get that you don't necessarily want to help me after how I treated you back at the mansion."

"like you treat everyone Rogue." Ruby interjected.

"I wouldn't say that…" Rogue said.

"why not? I mean, you always keep everyone at arms length. I tried to be nice to you and just get you out of that dark room but you would rather lock yourself up and not talk to anyone. Just those crazy voices in your head. I was afraid to come in the room because I thought you were some whacked out person. You refused to drink with us. You didn't want any fun. Honestly, I don't know why Bobby kept dating you. He could have had any of us."

Rogue's eyes darted down with exhaustion. John noticed that and decided it was time for his rescue.

"Hey princess, do you really think anyone cares what you think about Rogue? You're a Xavier knock off and if you know what's good for you then you'll let us in. You can't be as stupid as you look. As much as I appreciate a good ole go around, I think we should do this the nice way where you realize that we aren't leaving and you're not exactly in the position to turn us away."

Ruby glanced back into the apartment contemplating something.

"really, I think that I am in that position. I have the power here. I mean who the hell do you think you are little boy."

"well this little boy has seen more real fighting than all that training you failed at in the danger room. I mean it's not like you were good enough to be an x-men. Why else would you be here?" he shot back with a hard smile.

She was angry as she narrowed her eyes towards them. Rogue pushed in front of John.

"you'll never know we are even here Ruby."

The model wannabe sighed in irritation

"fine. I'm going to be at Chuck's anyways. Don't touch anything and be gone by the time I come back tomorrow."

Ruby called for Chuck then and the two of them left with a slam of the door.

Rogue smiled towards John as he glanced around the apartment.

"so much for letting me do the talking." She laughed.

"yeah well, I can see why you wouldn't be friends with that one." He pointed to the closed front door.

"okay, I need a shower." She moved towards the bathroom.

"you and me both. I'll see what she has for food while you do that." He moved to the kitchen, directly next to the bathroom.

Walking into the bathroom, Rogue was astonished by the old marble tiles and sink. The shower had a tinted glass window that led into the spacious area. She looked at herself in the mirror and began peeling the pants off her tired legs. Then she lifted her wife beater over her head and gasped in pain.

She didn't realize until that moment that she had left the door slightly ajar amidst her inspection of the bathroom. So when John came rushing in she nearly jumped back.

"what is it? Are you okay?" he asked frantic.

She laughed at the expression plastered on his face.

"I'm fine… I think." She tried to see over onto the underside of her bicep.

He moved further in the room and held her arm out gently. He slowly paused his fingers over a cut around that area.

"It doesn't look too bad…probably just stings…" he looked up into her eyes then. She had been watching him with playful curiosity; however, she watched as his eyes darkened as he realized the state of her undress. He began to let go of her arm and seemed to try and shake away the look in his eyes.

She grabbed his wrist and forced him to look back her.

"John…" she said slightly above a whisper.

She moved towards him ever so slowly, giving him time to process what was happening.

As she got close enough for him to feel her breath on his skin, she whispered, "Please just do this for me." He looked into her eyes with utter confusion, but he was quickly caught off guard by her lips brushing against his own.

He kissed her back, with less force than the kisses that they had shared before.

"you're a bit dirty." John laughed even while he said it.

With one hand he turned on the shower. She pushed his coat off without delay. Following that to the floor was his shirt. Then she was unbuckling his pants with shaky hands. He grabbed her hands and undid his own pants. He wiggled out of them in a not so slick fashion. They both stood there in the underwear. He swallowed, unsure.

She stepped back into the streamline of the shower. He waited, until she pulled his hand a few moments later. Once both inside, he shut the glass door slowly. Steam was filling the space between them. Her hair matted to her face and neck, Rogue tried to soap up all the mud off her arms and ankles. He took the soap and washed over her shoulders and onto her back. He traced small circles with the bar of soap before sliding a finger underneath one of her bra straps. He slid it down and began to clean the area.

She spun around to face him full on as he did the same to the opposite strap. He had been watching his own hand, hence he hadn't noticed her eyes following him wildly.

When he caught her gaze he dropped the soap. She giggled.

"you know…I don't think I've ever showered with anyone before." She stated.

"well there go all my fantasies about you and Jubilee's late nights." He smirked.

"John!" she protested in false anger as she swatted his shoulder.

"what?" he grinned.

She kept staring; however, he glanced over her body and said that she seemed to be clean now.

She rubbed her hands over her stomach and arms, inspecting her body.

"guess so." She muttered.

Rogue looked back at John's expectant face.

"we should…" he started, but couldn't quite finish his thought.

"shut up and move." She demanded, recalling their earlier interaction.

"um…move?" He said in confusion

She moved further out of the spray so it was hitting her lower back now. Biting her lip, she slowly moved her hand to her upper back. She unclasped her bra and pulled it down gradually. She could see his throat contract.

Then Rogue dropped the piece of clothing to the floor and flushed in her cheeks.

She was literally exposing herself to him and all that 'fight or flight' was coming raging back inside her body.

Without much hesitation he closed his eyes.

"Rogue…we've been over this."

"relax John. I may not have done this before…but I know what I'm doing. I know…that it's you. I want…it to be you." She said with her voice unwavering.

He opened his eyes when he felt her shift to him. She placed her hands on either side of his face. Then they were kissing. He tried to protest, but soon gave in to her.

He wrapped his arms around her back and pushed his hands up to roam her damp hair. She pushed his back against one of the wet walls and pushed her own body as close to his as it would allow. The feeling of that much skin on skin contact was new to Rogue, but she willed her powers to stay buried while she enjoyed the slick feel of his chest rising against her own in rapid gasps of air.

John's hands couldn't be controlled as he roamed her back, leaving imprints from the pressure of his fingertips upon her heated skin. Then he was holding her to him as he kissed her neck. She gasped in surprise at the sensation of his cool mouth against her sensitive jugular.

Rogue knew that this wasn't her apartment and that they could be interrupted at any time. With that in mind she rushed to shut the faucet off.

With her back to him now, he pulled her to his chest and continued kissing her neck. She led the way out of the bathroom while he spun her with a desperate force. In an instant he was back assaulting her mouth as they stumbled towards the bedroom.

They both paused to assess their new surroundings. The bed was already in a tussle and unmade. Pushing ugly thoughts of what her former roommate had been doing prior to the two mutant's arrival, Rogue shut the door and pulled John to the living room instead.

They tumbled together down onto the cushions of the large couch. He pressed her further into the pillow. She felt something press against her thigh and she pushed him up a little as a reaction new discovery. He stared down at her in confusion.

"you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I just…well, it's not like I've ever gone this far before. I didn't know…I mean, your…" She muttered in embarrassment.

He chuckled with a smile. "Sorry to tell you this, but if you thought I wouldn't react to your body all over mine then you might wanna rethink this."

"no, it's not that. I'm sorry. I'll shut up now." She closed her eyes and exhaled loudly.

He placed a hand on the side of her neck, forcing her to open her eyes.

"hey…I get it. This was new for me once to ya know."

"what? About 100 girls ago?"

He sighed, "I can't change who I am or what I've done. You know this."

"I just…I can't stop thinking that I'm gonna do this all wrong. That I'm terrible at this and I know this shouldn't mean much to you. I want it to be easy."

"this. Is never easy at first. You over think the whole thing until you're so nervous that it could be really bad, but you know what…who cares? Beside…" he kissed her forcefully for a second.

"you are hardly terrible at this."

Rogue smiled into the next kiss. Slipping over the movement of his back, she rested her hands on the hem of his boxers. His body reacted and pressed back into her thigh. She scooted his boxers down over his butt and released all of him. Tossing the boxers aside, he took hold of her bottoms and inched them down her thighs before removing them completely.

Feeling their pelvises pushed together for the first time, she flushed at the intimacy.

He was urgent as he sought confirmation in her eyes. She nodded and he pushed forward with a rush. She gasped as she contracted in slight pain.

"John.." she strained with a whisper.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you." He said quietly.

"no, no. it's okay. Just…slower."

With that he nodded and rose above her once more.

Rogue searched the ceiling. It was plain with the exception of a fan that was making slow rotations. Everything around her was moving in slow motion. She heard John pattering around the kitchen, barefoot. His shoes lay long discarded.

The grin on her features could not be contained upon seeing him hurry back into the living room with pop tarts in hand.

"what are you grinning at?" he asked in confusion.

"nothing. You're just kind of cute. You're like a little kid right now."

"well I guess you have a thing for kids. That's a little messed up Rogue." He proceeded to sit down on the couch as she scrunched her legs up and shifted to more of a seated position.

Both had reclothed a bit after everything was said and done.

"who says I have a thing for you?" Rogue shot back lightly

"okay, maybe you just took advantage of me because you loathe me so much." He mused.

"maybe." She smiled.

With a loud horn honking from the street outside, Rogue whipped her head around in the direction of the noise coming through an open window. It had startled her and caused the two mutants to break eye contact.

Then there were footsteps and giggles of the college kids running in the hallway. The slamming of a door in the distance snapped Rogue out of her mellow state. She recalled how their previous stay had been interrupted.

John's smirk had now softened into a slight frown.

"you need to contact someone."

"what?" Rogue was caught off guard by his quick attitude change. He'd become so serious in a few seconds

"you know, use a phone. Call the Wolverine to say you're all safe and ready to come home."

Rogue shifted closer to him, her eyes wide.

"I thought we'd established I'm not doing that. Not…without you."

The horns roared up again. He seemed to be annoyed with the extra noises as he shot up to stand.

"You know I'd never go with you. Did you really think that sex would bind me to you alone or something?"

Rogue stood up quickly in bruised anger.

"of course I didn't think you were bound to me! You can go out and screw whatever whore you want next John Allderyce! I guess I figured I'd offer you a chance at a real life, but hey you're right. I'm just a dumb and naive little girl. You know what? Screw you!"

Then she was moving to the phone in the kitchen.

He stood frozen trying to make sense of his next moves. Completely aware of her jerky behavior he had an instinct unlike his usual self to run and talk her down. However, he also knew that he needed to push her away once and for all. For both of their sakes.

John listened to her struggle through the conversation. Her eyes glistened with angry tears locked in her eyes. She refused to let them fall. Maybe she would later.

Striking a higher octave, her voice screamed it's own abnormality.

"Logan! I'm fine. Really. Everything is okay…I'm in the city at Ruby's place. I'm sorry for putting you guys through all this crap. I'd like to come home now…" she muttered quietly into the receiver.

"okay…see you then." She hung up the phone and inhaled to hold her composure. Turning around, she saw John's form leaning in the doorway. Not knowing what to say without losing her self-control, Rogue avoided his eyes and made herself busy by searching the apartment for the rest of her things.

"Rogue…" John started softly. It wasn't a comforting sound.

"I need to find my stuff. He'll be here in the next hour." She stated while staring and searching across the floors.

"That's good." John stated.

"yeah it's great. I can't wait to have an actual bed that's mine." She quipped with false enthusiasm.

"how it should be?" he asked more to himself.

She gathered the rest of her things and headed into Ruby's bedroom. Rummaging through her former roommates dresser, Rogue bypassed the sluttish gear and went for a pair of sweatpants and an 'I love NY' t-shirt.

Beginning to change silently, she saw him glance in the room so she shut the door quickly and stumbled back to sit at the foot of the bed.

She breathed with heaving distress as she realized that she had just given her virginity to the mutant behind the closed door. The man who had torn up her life over and over again at his own leisure. There was the startling realization that she had let him do it.

Now he was offering her an out of the sick cycle. Whether he'd saved her because it was a fleeting moment he had based on a memory of a friendship that they both couldn't seem to forget or something else, he'd done so without consideration for himself.

The image of the two of them lying together every day, like they did on the couch a few hours prior wasn't realistic. She'd been wrapped up the idea of him.

Rogue knew it was time. The clock on the bedside table let her know that Logan would be waiting soon.

After gathering up her things, she opened the door and headed into the main area where John was waiting with his own things.

They stepped through the threshold of the front door and silently trudged outside.

It was beginning to rain and the car's tires were sloshing with the fresh storm. Rogue sat on the stoop, underneath the overhang. John chose to lean across the stone railing of the stoop.

Rogue nodded and tried to smile at the students who were coming and going against the evening sky. It was the end of twilight and the lampposts illuminated the hundreds of umbrellas that passed in front of them.

"what will you do now? Really." She asked without turning to look at his direction.

"not sure." He replied honestly and with a cautious tone as if he expected her to blow up at him.

"I don't want to care you know. I don't really worry if that makes me weak in your eyes either."

"I know." He answered from behind her.

"just tell me one thing. You owe me that." She looked back at his form and caught him staring at her. He nodded.

"Did you do all this to just fuck with me because you know it'd hurt me and screw with my mind all over again? Or did some part of you, however small, actually mean what you said before about how I'm the only one you get weak around?"

She waited as he seemingly collected his thoughts. His neck shuddered as he swallowed hard and opened his mouth. Before he could answer, headlights flashed across his face, causing them both to look at the pick up truck coming to a halt at the curb. A door flew open with as Logan came bounding out. Rogue immediately stood up as he hurriedly crushed her to him. Rogue was taken aback a bit

"kid! Don't you EVER run off alone after something like that again!" he was being as authoritative as he could be, though she saw his weary eyes telling her another story. He was truly worried about her. She knew that he had finally forgiven her and himself for the incident about Jean that had happened in the danger room.

She smiled towards him. "I won't."

Then Logan's focus changed to look up towards the Pyro.

"and you!" John stood straighter as Rogue swung her body completely in front of Logan's moving arms. She attempted to hold him back as she pushed on the bigger man's wide chest.

"Logan! Stop! Please, god can we just get in the car? Let's go."

"That little criminal is not getting away with this!" Logan pushed his body further.

"Logan! Get in the car!" Rogue yelled with all the courage she could muster to contend with her protector. He glanced down at her frowning face only to melt under her foreign stare. He backed away slowly shaking his head in disagreement. Under his threatening gaze he also scanned over the younger man with curiosity.

"fine. I don't buy this crap and I don't like any of it. You protecting him. He doesn't deserve it."

"I know." Rogue said quickly to shut Logan up. The Wolverine circled around his truck and hopped in to rev the engine up.

Rogue turned to look at John. His eyes widened, but he didn't move. She moved further down the steps until she was next to the truck. Placing her hand on the door handle, she paused as his voice reverberated down the steps and through the rain.

"it sucks to actually care. You know it's better this way."

Glancing over her shoulder to see his face, he slowly approached the truck. They were both getting soaked in the rain, but neither seemed to care. While he moved towards her Logan honked the horn obnoxiously.

"I wish…" she started.

"me too." He said simply.

"you're not gonna be okay." She said.

"we'll see." He smiled amused with himself.

"I will never understand you John." She shook her head.

"yet you're about the only person who does." He said slowly. Glancing over her shoulder to see Logan watching him like he was prey, John added, "You need to go."

"I do?" she asked in a daze.

He moved closer, put his hand over the door handle and opened it. He touched her hand as she got into the cab of Logan's truck.

"be seeing you." He said as she shut the door. Logan tried to focus out the front of the truck instead of watching them.

She saw him back away to underneath the awning. Hands replaced in the pockets of his jacket, he nodded as Logan pulled a U-Turn on the busy street and they headed off into the distance.

Then he was gone from her view. She was going home. Back to the life she'd run away from all that time ago. Knowing she had been changed in every way, but also knowing her future was in no way set in stone. Because even the best laid plans don't always work. John had come back and rearranged everything. Rogue didn't know if they'd stay as they were forever. One thing she'd come to realize was that John Allderyce, the Pyro, did not stay gone for too long.

xFin

A/N: There goes some Ryro smuttiness. I've never actually written a good sex scene and this was actually one of my attempts to broaden my writing of it. Seeing as I have danced around it a bit before. Still, I'm hardly an M writer, so if you were expecting that well…use your own imagination and dirty that scene up a bit.

Thanks to my lovely lovely lovely reviewers! You really do keep my fire burning for Ryro. You are the reason I never gave up on this even after my crappy updating skills!

This is it ladies and gentlemen. I also have difficulty ending things, so I figured Spun had run it's course for this time in Rogue's life (in my ryro world). Hope you're not disappointed. I've loved writing this. Wonder what I'll do now that I'm not juicing this story?

Thank you again for taking this journey with me!!