Spider-Man: Duty and Loss Chapter 122: One Step

Rogue leant on one of the small railings that led to the outside of the mansion, a small game of soccer was being played on the field, of course use of powers was prohibited, wouldn't of been fair, especially seeing as Kurt was goal keeper for one of the teams.

Rogue's eyes stayed transfixed on one person in particular as they sprinted across the field, shirt sticking to his figure, a slight tinge of red reached her cheeks as she realised just how long she had been starring at him specifically, luckily no one else had noticed.

Her hair had done a good job of keeping people from seeing her expression from the side, she averted her eyes for a second at the realisation, but it wasn't even 10 seconds later that they drifted back to his figure.

"Rogue." Kitty's voice from the side snapped her out of her day dreaming as she quickly straightened herself and snapped her head to the person next to her. Trying to make it not too obvious what she had been doing, and failing horribly, Kitty just gave one of her trade mark smirks and a raised eye brow before she grabbed onto her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"You can ogle the guys later, you have got to see this!" She wanted to protest, she really did, 'his' shirt was sticking onto his just visible abbs for god sake! But she was stubborn enough to keep those thoughts to herself as she was dragged away, a pitiful look in her eyes.

Getting dragged through the mansion and further away from her prize, her trade mark brooding kicked in as she shook off Kitty's hand and followed by her side, a few of the other kids, noticing her now present scowl quickly gave way.

"This better be good." She might have said something harsher, if they both hadn't been roommates, but over their time together they had somehow created a slight repour. Being guided up the stairs, in a familiar direction, Rogue stopped and quickly grabbed Kitty's hand as she walked right up to a certain door.

Her eyes widened in surprise for a second as she dropped her voice to just above a whisper, only now hearing the music playing in the room. "Kitty what the hell? We promised Jean we wouldn't use our room while 'he's here.' …you know that guy Peter's over today."

Kitty, Rogue and Jean, shared the same room in the mansion, though it wasn't what they had wanted when they had all arrived, it couldn't be helped with the amount of kids that populated the school, especially those that had to border there, which was basically everyone.

Kitty looked back at Rogue, with a mischievous smirk as she put a hand to her lips in a quiet motion. Almost tip toeing to the room, she opened it up a crack and couldn't help the snicker that left her lips as she motioned for Rogue to get a look.

There was a small part of Rogue that said this was honestly none of her business, she had seen the way Jean looked at that new guy, did she really want to see them making out? Or something along those lines.

The answer to that question was a no. But then neither would Kitty… another part of her mind grew intrigued on what they could being doing that would warrant Kitty's snicker, and before she knew it her body had moved to the door to take a peek inside.

A small smile graced her lips, as she looked at the both of them passed out on Jean's bed. Had they fallen asleep? Really? With her head resting on Peter's chest and a smile gracing her lips, she could just make out the drool that was dripping out of her mouth, her leg draped over his lower half.

She had to stifle a laugh as she looked at the two, as her hand automatically went for the phone in her pocket. It always helped to have some leverage in the future, she couldn't wait to tease her later that night. Kitty must have had the same idea, as she already had her phone out and was making a small recording that she was sure, going to be used to aggravate the perfect red head.

The two continued to snicker between themselves and quietly whisper as they look at the scene happening in their room, before they suddenly saw Jean start to stir awake. Quickly shutting the door, the two ran off with their new material, ways of torturing jean later that night appearing in their minds.

(Mind Scape)

Peter had a goofy smile on his face as he watched Jean flop down in his old bed. If he was being honest, he was tired. Being dragged through a multitude of different mental scapes seems to tire a person out.

Their second last trip was to their old playground, and not just that. Finding himself suddenly in his 9 year old body, the games they played for the last hour or two had been so nostalgic, Peter couldn't put it into words. So seeing Jean crash into his bed like she used to and plopping himself down in his old chair, he couldn't help but smile.

Peter was contemplating if she was still ticklish in the same places and if that would even work in a mind scape when Jean's body perked up at something and she looked to the side. The small smile that was on her face slowly turned to a disappointed glimmer.

Peter was about to ask what was happening when she turned back to him, still looking sad. "Looks like we've been in here a bit too long, the professor wants to talk with you before both of you go back."

Peter also couldn't help the disappointed look that crossed his face at the news, which instantly brought a small smile to Jean's lips. The plan was working. Stretching her body Jean stood back up and offered her hand to Peter as he got up as well.

"When we leave the mindscape, we might be disorientated for a minute or tired, the power I had to use to do all this is no laughing matter." Peter gave Jean a smile and quick hug, before moving back. "No problem, better go see what the professor wants."

Giving Peter a nod, a quick thought was all it took for his body to disappear from the mind scape. After he vanished the room they were standing in also turned to black. Jean gave one last smile where Peter had been standing before she herself disappeared, talking to herself as she went.

"You've got to take the small things."

As her body vanashed from sight, a pair of fiery red eyes appeared in the now pitch black mental scape. "So that was the totem." The eyes burned bright for a few seconds, before also vanashing.

(Real world)

Peter slowly opened his eyes and let a sigh escape his lips. It felt as if he had just woken from one of the best nights of sleep ever. Lying on the bed, his body was so warm and comfortable he was having trouble getting his body up.

He was about to give into the urge of cracking all the joints in his body, when he felt something shift on his chest and realized just where the warmth he felt was coming from. Looking down, the fiery red hair of Jean instantly caught his attention, especially as her body was half draped across his.

Peter's face started to turn red as her head nuzzled into his chest, providing more of the warmth he had woken up to. His mind seemed to freeze in that second as he looked down at her, tracing the lithe figure that was sticking to him with his eyes.

Trying to keep his calm in the situation, he started to gently nudge Jean to get her to wake up. 'This was what she meant when she said disorientated or tired?' The only problem for Peter, was the fact that his gentle nudging wasn't working. It seemed to have the opposite effect actually.

Jean, instead of letting go, nuzzled and pressed even more into him as she tried to get comfy. Peter felt like face palming at the situation, while another part of him just wanted to leave her there and go back to sleep himself.

…..No he couldn't do that. "Jean, come on, wake up." Slightly running his fingers through her luscious hair, he finally got a reaction out of her as he brushed it off her face. Her eyes furrowed for a second, before finally opening, a sleepy look within.

Raising her body slightly Peter almost had an aneurism as he caught a quick look down the shirt she was wearing. His blood pressure reached a new high as Jean finally moved off him, enough for him to spring to his feet at least.

Rubbing his head in embarrassment he turned away from Jean for a second to compose himself, completely missing the smile that was on her lips as she looked at him. Turning back to look at her, Jean gave a small apologetic smile, while Peter tried to forget that all-consuming warmth he had just been subject to.

"Sorry about that Peter, I was a bit out of it, more than I thought I would." Peter could only stutter a reply as his eyes flickered down to her chest for a second before snapping back up. "N-n-no problem Jean… But we better get a move on. Can't keep the professor waiting."

Jean gave Peter another award winning smile as she moved off her bed and brushed by him on the way out. Peter couldn't help but follow her with his eyes, rooted to the spot, as she reached the door to the room. "Well lets get going then."

Realising what he had just been thinking about, especially his best friend, Peter wanted to smack himself to sober up, but resisted the urge and just gave a bit of a dumbfounded nod before following behind her.

As he fitted the comm device back into his ear and trailed behind, he couldn't see the devious winning smirk Jean had on her lips as she made her way to the professor and he also couldn't hear her thoughts.

'One step at a time. One step.'

Chapter end