The Companion Picture - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Dandelion
Last updated: 12/03/2009 06:26:08 PM

Chapter 9

Rogue looked at the calendar on the table. She had long ago circled this day in red to signify the importance of it.

This was the day the implantation would be attempted. She tried not to feel nervous.

<After all this time,> she thought to herself. <Ah'll finally know.>

It had been a few weeks and Rogue was ready to move on. She had gone through some pretty intensive therapy with Dr. Laibern, but it had been worth it.

<An awful lot to deal with. Mystique, Carol, Dazzler, Longshot. The loss of my power, the Siege Perilous, the fight with Carol.> She sighed. <Ah thought Ah had put Carol behind me. Turns out all Ah did was bury her for a while. It's a lot easier to deal with what Ah did to her without her presence bein' in my head.>

She flipped through a magazine aimlessly.

<When she was in there Ah could always feel her anger and hate. Even when my psyche was in control, I could feel her pushin' me, hatin' me.>

Rogue sighed.

<Ah kind of got used to it. When she was gone and Ah felt none of that hate from her, Ah started substituting it for myself. Ah'd start hatin' things about myself.> Rogue almost laughed out loud. She remembered the day she and Dr. Laibern had uncovered that little mystery.

"One tends to get used to a certain kind of treatment." Dr. Laibern had said. "And when that treatment stops it is difficult to adjust without it. It is that way in most instances.

"For example, if a child is abused by it's parents and then is removed from that environment and put into another, completely different one, that child will still expect to be abused simply because that is what it is accustomed to." Rogue leaned her chin on her hands. She had been so used to being looked upon as the wildchild of the X-men, so used to being condemned for what she had done to Carol, so used to feeling the hatred deep within her from Carol herself, that once it was all gone she didn't quite know what to do or think.

<After Ah had been sucked into the Siege Perilous, well, the X-men carried on. Some of them even ended up goin' through that thing too.>

Rogue thought back. <Ah remember us all meetin' up on Muir Isle, everything was different. Ah wasn't the same, they weren't the same. An' Ah was *expecting* things to be the same, even though Ah knew they weren't. Ah wanted to know that nothin' had changed.>

Things, Rogue discovered, had a habit of changing whether you were ready for them or not. And whether they were attitudes about life or love or merely the way one looked, the changes had happened and she had tried to ignore them. Ignoring her problems didn't help matters. <And then along came Remy,> Rogue's heart thumped heavily in her chest. <If Ah thought Ah had problems before Ah certainly had them when he flashed that grin of his at me.> Her mind went back to Asteroid M, on one of their first missions on a team together. After Magneto had Moira manipulate the blue team to join his cause they had been bumming around the pool and Remy had made the first of what was to be many propositions to Rogue.

"Wan' take the risk lil river rat?" he had said. She remembered her heart beating faster, her breath coming quicker, her mouth going dry as she stared up at him.

<A Southern sentiment,> Rogue thought. <Some folk prob'ly wouldn't care much for bein' called a river rat, but Ah knew. Ah knew what it meant. Ah was cute, Ah was sweet, Ah was somebody he wanted to whisper to.> Rogue had known she was attractive, had never yearned for the appreciation of men. She knew she had it. But this Cajun, this tall, dark stranger with the smooth accent, and the ponytail and the gold earring glittering against his skin, this man with the flashing eyes and the wicked smile had completely and utterly unnerved her.

She loved his dangerous allure from the start. The promise of things to come. She wanted to risk things with this one. The thrill would far outweigh any disappointment. Except that she couldn't. That angered her far more than his self-assured grandeur, his arrogance or his cocky air. <Ah'd have risked just about anything for that man, he was worth it.>

A knock at the door interrupted Rogue's reverie. She found her throat had gone dry and her palms were suddenly very damp. "Who's there?" she croaked out.

"Forge," came the reply.

Rogue wiped her palms on her pants and stood up, going to answer the door. Forge was waiting patiently. "The moment of truth?" she whispered.

He nodded.

The room was decidedly fuzzy. Rogue came out of the anesthetic slowly. She looked around her and let her blurry vision clear. Forge and Dr. Laibern were sitting nearby. She offered a slight smile, to let them know she was okay.

"How are you feeling, Rogue?" Forge asked.

"Ah don' feel diff'rent," Rogue mumbled softly.

"Good," Forge smiled. "That's good."

"How soon will we know whether it worked or not?" Rogue asked.

A nurse came over and checked her pulse.

"We'll wait until you've come out of the anesthetic before we go any further," Forge replied. "Then we'll move on. Just try and relax and rest easy." He sat back and fell silent.

Presently, the drugs wore off and Rogue was all bright eyes and rumpled spirit. She waited anxiously as Forge went over his data, then dressed in her normal neck to toe attire to wait some more.

Forge was going over everything with the proverbial fine tooth comb. He had no desire to miss anything that might cause Rogue any more problems, but he at last was satisfied that everything was as good as it could be and that he had not overlooked any eventuality.

"The first thing we need to check is your strength and flight," he told her as they stood in the midst of a room that looked vaguely like the Danger Room in Westchester. "So, go to it." Rogue looked around her nervously, then took a deep breath and jumped into the air. She kept going, as she was wont to do when she flew, and did a few loop-de-loops to show off her skills a little. Then she went and lifted a few tons of weights on the one side of the room. Forge noted a few things down quietly then, quite suddenly, pulled a handgun out and emptied the clip on her.

The bullets bounced off her harmlessly, though she instinctively flinched at the noise. Forge nodded and tossed the gun aside.

"Well, all of your siphoned powers are in fine working order."

"Good thing," Rogue brushed off her outfit, looking at the scattered bullets at her feet.

"Now, we test the inhibitor." He motioned to a door to one side and a very familiar green-tressed woman stepped out of the shadows beyond.

"Lorna," Rogue looked at her with faint surprise.

Lorna nodded back. "Hello Rogue."

The two women looked at each other rather distantly. Rogue knew that Lorna and Alex had been together since air, although she mostly knew Lorna as a villain, possessed by the Marauder Malice, who had recently been destroyed. She also knew that Lorna had been the victim of more manipulation than most. From Zaladane to Magneto to the Shadow King, and yet, here she was, still fighting.

Rogue couldn't help but admire her a little.

Lorna, for her part, couldn't say she was too thrilled at the prospect of what Forge had asked her to do. Rogue's power was uncontrolled and Lorna had no desire to get sucked dry by the girl. Still, Forge had expressed a great deal of confidence in his work and Lorna figured that of all people, she would be most capable of putting the pieces back together were anything to go wrong.

Lorna held out her hand to Rogue and waited.

Rogue looked at Lorna's hand with the expression akin to a deer caught in headlights. She stared for a moment, dreading the worst, scarcely daring to hope for the best, then stripped off a glove and took Lorna's hand.

Nothing happened.

Rogue gripped Lorna's hand tighter.

Nothing continued to happen.

Rogue held it tighter.

Something happened this time. Lorna winced. "Would you mind too terribly?" she asked dryly. "I'd prefer to keep my hand functional." Rogue's grip lessened, and she started to giggle. Her giggle increased in magnitude until it was out and out hysterical laughter. She jumped up and down and then let go of Lorna, shooting up into the air with a triumphant yell.

"YES!!!"

She dropped back to the ground and grabbed Forge planting a good, long healthy kiss right on his lips then sprang back into the sky, twisting in the air kicking her legs out and altogether reveling in her new found freedom.

Lorna smiled broadly at Rogue's ecstatic celebrations and even permitted a laugh to escape her after the tense moment of prospective doom at Rogue's hand before. She cast her eyes to Forge appreciatively and her enjoyment of the moment increased. Forge, stoic, controlled Forge was blushing hotly from Rogue's kiss.

She threw her head back and laughed loudly at Forge's expense then magnetically propelled herself up to Rogue. "Let's find something for you to wear, there's no need to hide now."

Rogue paused and looked at Lorna curiously. It was fascinating to see that look. Lorna's offer of friendship was genuine and what's more completely devoid of fear, sympathy, or pity. Rogue liked the look of it. Rogue loved the look of it. She flashed a brilliant smile at Lorna and nodded.

"Of course, you'll have to go shopping when you get home and buy yourself all those clothes you thought you couldn't wear before." Lorna said as she adjusted the costume on Rogue. "But, this'll see you home, and shock a few people to boot."

Rogue stared at herself in the mirror.

"You WORE this? On assignment?!"

"Yeah," Lorna's voice was full of pride.

"Pretty hot, huh?"

"Ah wonder if Alex was able to pry his eyes off you."

"It took awhile," Lorna conceded.

"Although Alex is such a soldier on the field, Mr. Business, that I wasn't really worried. Besides, the high muckity mucks decided that I was being an exhibitionist and gave me a new outfit."

"Ah can kind of see their point."

Lorna looked up, "Everyone's a critic. Anyway, since I was pretty much given a dress code, as if the government has any place to cast aspersions as to decency and modesty, this has pretty much been collecting dust in my closet."

"Has it really?" Rogue teased.

"All right, all right, I've pulled it out a few times for Alex." Lorna tossed Rogue a wicked grin. "What can I say, he likes me in it. Although I think he was relieved when I wasn't allowed to wear it in the field anymore. I think he was uncomfortable with the drool factor." Lorna's laugh was sweet with just the slightest hint of immorality bubbling beneath the surface.

Rogue liked her laugh. She like Lorna, who was so far removed from the lofty Storm and the self-assured Jean. Lorna seemed to have both feet planted firmly on the ground. Rogue felt she would like very much to count Lorna as her friend. She seemed to be the kind ready with a laugh and a good hard night out on the town.

"Ah definitely feel a draft." Rogue looked at the outfit in the mirror and felt self conscious like she never had been before. The worst part about it was the she had no idea why. She certainly had made a spectacle of herself plenty of times before.

"You look absolutely fabulous." Lorna stood back and surveyed her work.

"Ah don't know if this is the right coloring for me."

"Nonsense. You look great." Lorna winked. "Bold colors are YOU, girlfriend. And, if you don't mind my saying so, it's nice to see you in something other than green." Lorna flipped her peridot-colored tresses. "Believe me, if anyone knows what it's like to get stuck with a color too long it's me." She sighed. "Do you have any idea how long they stuck me with green? Just because of my hair?"

"Well, Ah like green." Rogue looked back in the mirror, enjoying the girlish conversation and the complete lack of inhibition.

"So do I, but not all the time." Lorna looked Rogue up and down. "A really deep sapphire blue would be very flattering to your auburn hair. And never underestimate the effect of a dark crimson color. And, of course, there's black. You'd do very well in black. Very dramatic. Oh, and gold. Use your metallics, they would be so flattering to your hair. You have gorgeous hair, Rogue. Mine's just green."

Rogue laughed out loud at Lorna's plaintive lament. "Just green? Sugah, you aren't just anything and you know it."

Lorna's grin betrayed the fact that she knew that what Rogue said was true and knew it well. She appraised Rogue and then nodded. "You have to wear that when you go back to Westchester. But for now, put these on and let's watch a movie. I got some videos the other night and they're all girl movies."

Rogue smiled and took the leggings and T-shirt from Lorna. She ducked into the bathroom and changed clothes thinking how nice it was to have a real girlfriend. She sucked in her breath thinking that she was about ready to take the next step.

She came back out and found that Lorna had folded her new outfit and laid it on a chair.

"You ever seen 'Enchanted April'?" Lorna asked.

Rogue shook her head.

"Great! It's so sweet and nice and, God, it's a girl movie! I'd never even ASK Alex to watch it, he'd get all edgy thinking something was going to happen but actually never does. It makes me want to rent a castle in Italy with a few friends and NEVER come back. What do you say? We'll do that, the two of us." She grinned, and Rogue grinned back thinking that an Italian castle would be wonderful. Lorna continued, "I hear a couple of root beer floats calling us in the kitchen. Let's not disappoint, huh Rogue?"

Rogue smiled broadly. "Call me Brett."