Wash Away Those Years: Looking Back (3/?)
Story Title: Wash Away Those Years
Chapter Title: Looking Back
Pairing: Pyro/Rogue (of course) but for a while, might be Bobby/Kitty/Rogue/Pyro love square
Part: [3/?]
Author: Katie aka melkat92
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Set during X-Men: The Last Stand, and loosely based off the video footage from X-Men: The Last Stand.
Disclaimer: I just own the idea.
Summary: Rogue runs into Pyro while seeking the cure. Some unexpected things arise from their encounter. Now, their both struggling to find themselves, and to find one another as they try to hold onto what used to be, and what could've been. But can they re-write the past and present all together and find something worthwhile?...
New: Wash Away Those Years Trailer! Take a look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83qyA6vkntk
Previously on Wash Away Those Years:
--
“John,” she repeated again as she got closer to him.
He unexpectedly whips around to face her, pulling her into a fierce kiss... hard, passionate, rough. His hands grab her face, stopping her from pulling away. He didn’t care if she didn’t like kissing him, if she’d hate him for this or even the rejection he was sure he'd receive.
His tongue darted inside her mouth, craving more. He wanted, demanded to taste her... and he did. He didn’t even notice that she wasn’t fighting him, or that she was deepening the kiss more as she embraced him. It was everything he’d imagined, and more. He was like a hungry dog as he kissed her, wanting to taste her more as he became greedy. So many times he’d wished for this moment, even at The Brotherhood. So much want, lust, love… All reamed into one kiss.
--
He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he felt the familiar sting of knowing she’s still gonna go back to Bobby. For the first time in a long time, Pyro felt his eyes become watery. Was it hurt, envy? Or was it just plain heartache? He opened his eyes and took one last look at Rogue before leaving it all behind, leaving it there with that girl... crying into the pavement.
It’s been three days since the kiss that day at the cure center …The kiss which kept replaying in Rogue’s mind, torturing her every move.
“You have no fucking idea what I’d go through for you!” The memory of what Pyro had said to her that day on the sidewalk echoed in her mind as she tossed and turned through another restless night.
“John!” Rogue hollered as she watched him walk away from her.
--
“Who’s this?” Logan asked while looking at the boy.
“Oh, this is Bobby, he’s my-“Rogue soon got interrupted when Bobby piped in, completing her sentence.
“…Boyfriend.” Bobby shook Logan’s hand as Rogue smiled happily at the two.
Rogue tossed and turned, kicking her covers back a little as she began to sweat.
Rogue in her nightgown appearing to be herself as she slept, while watching in third person. Reliving that day on the jet when he left her... She pounded her hands onto the sheet of glass blocking her away from John and herself that day as he proceeded to leave the blackbird.
“John, don’t go!! Please!” Rogue, standing behind the glass desperately pleaded as her eyes began to water.
“I’m sorry!!” she yelled at him, but nobody could hear her….Tears now freely flowing down her cheeks while she looked at a hologram image of herself across from John on the jet.
“John, they told us to stay here…”
“No, stop it! What are you doing!?” Rogue yelled to the memory of herself.
John looked back at Rogue, standing next to Bobby. “You always do as you’re told..?” he asked, knowing Rogue would do anything Bobby wanted, and Bobby wanted to play by the rules that day and not go into battle without permission first. Rogue looked at John, feeling completely defeated as she stayed silent.
Memories playing like a roll of film inside Rogue’s mind as she dreamt.
Rogue screamed, pounding on the glass barrier futilely as John fled from the jet to join Magneto, becoming forever part of The Brotherhood.
“No, don’t leave me John! I need you here!” Rogue frantically cries. She turns to look over at the two mutants letting him go, who's slight feelings of disappointment and regret weren't nearly enough.
“You… “She spoke with such disgust, glaring fiercely at the memory of herself. “This is all your fault!!” She screamed at herself as she stood there doing nothing while John walked away from her. She slammed the side of her balled up fist at the sheet of glass, breaking it into a million pieces.
Rogue frantically struggled, tossing and turning in her sleep as she moaned, “No...” feeling so helpless as the memories in her dream continue to haunt her.
She's running as fast as she can. Her legs can barely keep up, feeling so heavy and weak. She sees fire in the distance; she keeps running faster and faster towards it, tripping over herself but refusing to slow down.
She comes to a dead stop as Pyro appears in front of her. His arm is outstretched, using all the force he can muster to keep the fire flowing from him strong as it flames on towards the soldiers. She looks to him, then to the soldiers with nothing but fear and concern in her eyes. She stands there dismayed and baffled as Pyro tries his best to fight the men off. There were too many of them, crowding him, surrounding him. Pyro takes a moment to look around him, glaring at the men as he realized he was outnumbered. Rogue whispers “Get away…” as the raging war continues.
“Get away!!” she repeated, screaming to the men who wouldn’t stop attacking him. One of the soldier’s shoves a loaded clip into his weapon and cocks it as he aims at Pyro.
”Stop!!” Rogue yelled as she ran closer. The soldier aims it at Pyro and shoots him in his stomach, then again in his shoulder and chest. Rogue gasps, watching in horror while the fire emanating from him dies down and he slowly drops to his knees, coughing up blood. Rogue runs towards him as she begins to cry. “John!!” she yells, crouching down above him while tears flow down her cheeks like a river.
“I’m so sorry John… I’m sorry I never said it. I meant it all along, you know that!!” Rogue desperately tries to state as his breathing decreases.
“No… You can't leave me John, no!”
His heartbeat slows almost to a stop. “Don’t leave me!!” Rogue screamed, frantically crying as she rests her head on his motionless chest. She flosses her fingers through his blond hair as she sits there, powerless and heartbroken, sobbing uncontrollably.
Rogue jumps up from her bed, taking a large amount of air in as she gasps. It didn’t take long for the tears to appear, still extremely terrified by what she had seen in her dream. She then realized she wasn’t alone, and looked around the room at the other girls in the dormitory room, sleeping soundly in their beds. She gains her composure and quickly wipes away her tears. She glances over at her clock resting on the nightstand beside her bed, looking at the time; 3:45AM. pulling back the covers from her bed and touching her feet to the ground, she evened out her breathing. She was drenched in sweat and her head was now burning up.
She couldn’t help but think of the horrible nightmare she had just had. She stumbled around trying to find her way to the door, and then quietly turned the doorknob, leaving the girl’s dormitory as she shut the door behind her. She slowly walked to the bathroom down the hall and switched on the light as she closed the door behind her. She leans up against the sink as she looks at herself in the mirror. Her face was a little red, her eyes were watery, and she was drenched in sweat. She turned on the water faucet and rinsed off her face. She grabbed the bathroom towel, drying her face off, then looked in the mirror again.
--
The next day… Pyro and the others have been assigned to take out Worthington’s doctors and staff from within the building of Worthington labs... Planning to attack at night, Magneto goes over the plan with everyone from their underground woods location.
“Juggernaut, you will be our first to go in… Knocking the building doors down, we will then attack using everything we have. Arclight, Psylocke, Pyro,” Pyro looks up at the mention of his name. Magneto then continued while looking at them. “Hold nothing back; kill anybody that gets in your way.” Magneto then looks at Mystique. “Mystique will be there to assist the rest of you.” Magneto said, and then continued. “Make no mistake; we shall be the ones who win this war…” He looks at his army, holding such wisdom and boldness in his words. Pyro stands there holding his head up with pride, acting as if nothing was bothering him. It was obviously apparent to everyone, he wasn’t stable enough to focus and finish this mission.
Pyro nods his head at Magneto as he frees himself from the meeting, walking up the underground stairs, leading into the woods where his tent was located. Some members wondered, but they didn’t ask. He was acting funny, and everyone, including Magneto knew it. Pyro walks inside his tent where all his belongings laid. He grabs his com-link for the mission ahead, when he sees his old shark lighter he had abandoned when he was given his wrist igniter, courtesy of Magneto. He slowly picks it up, bringing back a missed memory of their funny little game, before Bobby had gotten in the way.
Rogue very quietly sneaks into John’s room early that morning as he slept. She tip toes over to his bed. She looks around the room, trying her best to find it… ‘Where would he put it??’ she hopelessly asks herself while biting her lip as she schemed. She looked to his nightstand, and then she very quietly attempts to look inside the drawer below. She gets it half way open, when the damn thing squeaks, causing her head to snap up to see if he had been awoken. She grins as he just moves a little, turning over in his sleep. She quietly searched his nightstand drawer, very carefully trying to make as little noise as possible. Sadly, she found nothing… She slowly closes it, and continues to look around. Her eyes scan around his room, and then back to him. She smiles a bit as he sleeps, thinking of how much of a dork he is. She then sees it, sitting right there in his hand. The one place she must’ve missed. She slowly moves closer to his bed while hovering above him. Slowly moving closer to his body as her arm reaches as far as it can go to grab the lighter from his hand. She bites her lip as it becomes strenuous to reach, but she becomes closer, and closer to it. She leaned over him more, her body leaning so close to his face. She finally touches it to her relief, trying to wiggle it from within his hand. She begins thinking she’s home free, when all of the sudden his hand tightens on the lighter, causing her to take in a bit of breath.
“Oh so close...” John said, morning voice ridden. He takes her by surprise when he lunges at her like a shark. Rogue lets out a scream as he grabs onto her body and tackles her down to his bed beside him.
Rogue fills the room with laughter as she positions herself to face John as she smiled. “Screw you John!” she giggled as she smacked his shoulder.
“You’re a cheater! I always leave it somewhere where you can grab it easy…” she admits.
He just evilly smirks as he begins to laugh demented. “Well, it wasn’t mentioned in the rules!” John said, prompting his head up with his arm.
“Oh, come on… It applies!” Rogue replied as she giggled, and then continued. “Plus, hiding it in impossible places where the other one can’t reach shouldn’t count.”
“Oh, like putting it underneath your mattress?” he challenged her argument while smiling.
“Shut up! That’s totally different. Oh, and it wasn’t as difficult as yours.” She looks at him once more, trying to get away with her exception.
“Yeah yeah …” the smile never leaving his face, as he knew he was right.
“You’ll find in time Johnny that no matter what you do, the woman will always be right.” She said while smiling, playing around with him.
“Oh. Oh really? Well, how’s it feel to be on the losing end of that one..?” he returned the smile as he also joked. She gasps, playfully acting shocked as she grabbed John’s pillow and smacked him with it.
Pyro looked at the lighter, and his eyes wondered off onto the floor as he remembered. Things used to be so good… She’d changed when she met Bobby. No longer became as playful with him, or played games and had fun. She became practically a female replica of Bobby. She’d gotten so serious, so dead to most things that would’ve meant the world to her beforehand. She’d spend more and more time with Bobby, and rarely would visit him anymore. One time he had made a deal with himself to give up on talking to her for one day, just to see if she’d notice and come see him. Instead, she’d just smile his way whenever she’d pass by him in the halls, not even fazing her. Of course, John wasn’t one to bitch… He’d never mention the issue to her. Instead, he’d become more and more distant, hollowing the feelings he had harbored deeper and deeper inside. When John would have an attitude whenever she finally did talk to him, she’d just think of it as him being an asshole and get mad at him. Pyro snapped out of his thoughts, ignoring them as he set down his shark Zippo and put on his com-link to get ready for battle that night.