Rogue pulled the phone receiver away from her ear. “Jubilee, really, Ah just want to stay here tonight.”
“Why, for crying out loud? New York City is the place to be for New Year’s, and you want to spend it in that drafty old mansion? That doesn’t make any sense!” There was silence and then, “Unless you want to spend it with a special someone?”
Rogue stiffened, shocked. How did Jubilee find out about yesterday?
“I mean,” the voice on the other end continued slyly, “You haven’t even thanked me for the gift that gorgeous Cajun gave you for Christmas.”
“Omigod Jubes, you didn’t!”
“Well, someone had to do something about that special problem of yours,” Jubilation Lee told her, unapologetically. “And holy cow, what I wouldn’t do to get me some of that gumbo!”
She couldn’t help it, Rogue started to laugh. Her friend was insane. “Goodbye Jubilee. Have a great time, and we’ll talk in the New Year.” She hung up before the other woman could argue more.
She put on her snow clothes and made her way outside to where the four youngest students of the academy were playing in the snow. It was a bitterly cold day but it didn’t bother her as much as it would have before. Her tolerance for cold temperatures improved with each day. She cringed, picking up the sounds of an argument between the two youngest as she rounded the corner.
“I am NOT a sucky baby!”
“Yes, you ARE!”
“Am NOT!”
“ARE TOO!”
Sighing deeply, she broke out into a run when the two children began to physically hit each other. Suddenly, Andrew began to glow a deep, deep, green.
He backed away from Christie, who had a look of horror on her little face where she lay in the snow. Stunned, Rogue watched the little boy rise up into the air, and he looked to her, terrified.
“Miss Rogue, HELP ME!” he screamed as caretakers grabbed the three remaining children to take them to safety. Rogue flew into the air and reached for him. She grabbed his arms and found herself screeching in pain as she became engulfed in green herself. Andrew began to cry.
“Oh please Miss Rogue, I don’t know how to stop! I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry!”
Rogue could hear the other children crying in fear and she tried to focus through her pain. Every nerve ending in her body felt like it was being pulled apart. There was only one way she knew to stop this, and she screamed her thought out to the Professor who was already rushing towards them from deep within the mansion’s basement where he was working with Cerebro.
I can't do it, professor!
~ Andrew isn’t responding to me, he's too frightened to hear me. You need to stop him, Rogue! ~
Rogue began to cry herself, not from the tremendous pain she was experiencing but from fear. Ah’ll kill him Professor!
~ He can kill ALL of us, Rogue and he’s killing you now! ~ The professor told her forcefully. The green glow was expanding and the children were barely just ahead of it, running towards the school.
The pain was excruciating. There was a kind of pulse radiating from the child that ripped into her repeatedly, and if it wasn’t for her invulnerability, she would have been obliterated. But it was steadily chipping away at her, and she was tiring. Sight blinded by her tears, she hugged the petrified child and whispered soothingly, “Ah got you, my angel. Ah got you.”
She touched her bare forehead to his and the green vapour instantly disappeared, the child collapsing unconscious in her arms.
They both fell to the ground, Rogue positing herself to cushion the boy’s fall, taking the full brunt of the impact. The remaining children ran towards them, Amy in front, her face tear streaked. She reached out to Rogue, exclaiming, “Miss Rogue, Miss Rogue, you’re bleeding!”
Dazed, Rogue looked down at herself and saw that she was, indeed, bleeding, from every pore in her body, her winter clothes soaked through with the red liquid. She couldn’t move. When she realized that Amy was reaching for her face, her exposed face, Rogue could only stare at her helplessly.
“Oh no, oh no, please baby girl, DON’T TOUCH ME!” she screamed in warning, too weak to pull away. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt little hands cup her face.
Through the haze of her rapidly disappearing consciousness, she heard Amy plead, “Please don’t cry Miss Rogue, please don’t cry!” as little hands rubbed against her cheeks.
Then, there was blackness.
“… her mutation is…”
“ …little Andrew …”
“…Amy’s so…”
“…tell Kurt he needs to wait like everyone else...”
All these voices were making her headache worse. Rogue didn’t feel too good. In fact, she felt like she was hit by a truck. No, make that an envoy of tanks.
Opening her eyes was going to be extremely hard work, and more of her wanted to continue sleeping than wake up. Breathing was difficult. Everything felt difficult. She could feel her healing factor in overdrive and yet, she was still in a lot of pain. Damn it, but why did it hurt so much?
“I’m so sorry, Miss Rogue. Please, please wake up.”
She heard Andrew’s voice. Oh god. Please. No, no, NO! Ah touched him. Ah killed him….
“NO!” She bolted upright, eyes wide in terror. She felt strong arms grab her and she pushed against them, horrified. Wildly, she jumped off the hospital bed, ripping tubes and needles from her body. She heard his tiny voice again, exclaiming, “I want Miss Rogue asleep again, Dr. Beast, please make her go to sleep again!”
Startled, she spun around and found herself staring down at a very afraid little boy. Andrew stared back, still scared, but brave enough to say, “I know you’re really, really mad Miss Rogue, but I’ve been telling everyone that I’m really, really sorry. I mean it!”
Rogue blinked, and then blinked again. She knelt in front of him. “Andrew,” she whispered, amazed, “You’re okay?”
His face twisted, offended. “Me? It’s you that got really hurt. By me.”
Rogue began to laugh. The little brat was actually a bit proud of himself. She hugged him to her, holding his little body against her. The little boy began to cry, whispering in her ear so that no one could hear as his little arms squeezed her as hard as they could. “I was so scared Miss Rogue.”
“Ah know baby, Ah know,” she whispered back. She became aware of the others in the room and stood up to face them. Rogue remembered everything.
“Amy honey, come here.”
The little girl ran to her from behind Hank where she was hiding. “Miss Rogue, I am so happy you’re okay!”
Rogue picked her up in her arms, and sat back on the medical bed. Her eyes caught Charles Xavier’s and his image blurred slightly as her eyes filled with tears. “Ah’m more than okay.”
Rogue ran her ungloved fingers up and down the little girl’s arms comfortingly, her bare hands warm against the young girl’s cool skin.
The X-Men were gathered in the hospital room, minus the Wolverine, Gambit and Cyclops who were still on their recon mission and had yet to return. The remaining super heroes were smiling at the young woman standing before them, their faces expressing their happiness for her.
“Ah can hardly believe it.” Rogue looked at her dear friends, still in shock.
Ah can control my skin. Oh my god, Ah can control it!
Professor Xavier was beaming. “Yes Rogue, you can control your skin. In fact, there are many facets of your mutation that you can now control. Your desire to not hurt Andrew made you shut off his mutation on contact, and you were able to shut off your mutation completely as demonstrated when young Amy touched you. Congratulations, my dear."
The enormity of the morning’s events were beginning to sink in. Rogue stared at her ungloved hands. “Ah can touch,” she whispered. “Ah can touch.” She began to cry deep, hard, gut wrenching sobs.
Jubilee and Kitty were the first to reach her, hugging her tightly and sobbing themselves. Rogue touched her best friends’ faces with her bare hands, and there was no flinch, not an iota of fear on their faces. Then they laughed.
Laughed and laughed and laughed.
Next was Kurt, who hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek tenderly; Ororo took Rogue’s face into her hands and kissed her forehead: and Hank kissed her hand gallantly, before crushing her into a bear hug. There were tears in everyone’s eyes.
Charles Xavier took her ungloved hands into his, his thumbs rubbing over on top them, telling her, “Dearest Rogue. The world is your oyster.”
Rogue looked deep into his eyes, clutching his hands. Thank you, Professor Xavier. Thank you for everything.