"Rogue..." He reached up and cupped her jaw and cheeks with both hands, making sure she was looking at him, that he had her full attention. "Darling, if I'm thinking about anything besides making love with you, then I have some pretty messed-up priorities. If you don't want me to see them, that's fine. But..." He pressed his lips together, already regretting what he was about to say, but knowing it had to be said. "If you wanna do this, I'm gonna have to see them - even if we do it in complete darkness, I'm going to feel them. I won't be thinking about them, I'll be thinking about you," he reiterated, "but they're as much a part of you as anything else I'm gonna touch.

"I don't care what we do," he said again, kissing the tip of her nose, then placing another kiss between her brows. "If you want to do this, we will. If you want to wait, we can. If you never want to show me, that's fine. I am gonna support you no matter what."

Steve thought about what it might be like, if he had a list of his previous ailments, all of his failures, that anyone could see, right on his body. Even no longer being burdened by them, they had indelibly shaped him, but it had taken him time, and a good man's words, to make him start to see that they had made him stronger, even when he was so physically weak. Rogue's situation wasn't the same, but there were enough parallels for him to start to see where she was coming from. Unfortunately, he didn't know what words she needed to hear, if there even were any, to help her through this.