X3: The Ace Of Spades

Disclaimer: X-Men is owned by Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox. I do not own X-Men, nor am I making a profit from this work of fan-fiction. So don't sue me! Not that you'd get a whole lot from me anyway ;)
A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait again. I learned two things getting this chapter done: don’t go to Cancun for Spring Break if you want to finish a chapter, and don’t put off a 30 page paper until the week it’s due! :) Thanks for the reviews last chap – let’s get on with the chapter.

Chapter 26: Changes

Kansas City, Missouri

Much of the city slept. Streetlights shone in the dark, illuminating the roads around them, and most of the skyscrapers and tall buildings downtown only had their nighttime lights on, an odd window here and there lit up by someone working late into the night but the rest darkened.

The nightlife, however, was kicking into gear, it was just after midnight and the nightclubs and bars around town were at their capacity, two hours before most closed, and not many of those people out looked at the four black SUVs driving slowly, right at the speed limit unlike the other vehicles on the road, as if deliberately trying to avoid attention – or at least police attention.

A few blocks to the east of I-35, right in the heart of the city, lays one of the major landmarks: the Liberty Memorial, built within a large acreage of green lawn, was a tall, pillar-like tower with and adjoining museum, built to commemorate those soldiers who had fallen during World War I.

It was the center of a complex of other notable buildings of the city: the Federal Reserve just to the south, Crown Center – a large shopping and entertainment center built around Halls, the maker of Hallmark Cards – lay to the east, a large IRS building to the west.

To its north lay Union Station, once the hub of railways in the city, in its heyday it had reached a peak of nearly 700,000 passengers in 1945, but airliners and other forms of transportation slowly led to its shut-down. It had been reopened in recent years, and become more of a historical monument to the history of railroads in the city, and the home of Science City – a family science entertainment center – and one of the largest planetariums of the area.

A few passenger trains owned by Amtrak did still run through the station, and the last had come in hours before. Lucinda Welsch, who worked the later shift at the main office of the train terminal, had finished locking away the money for pickup from an armored car company the next morning, and closed up after herself, walking out of the station toward a parking lot that lay outside the station, where her fiancé would be waiting for her.

She smiled when she saw his car on the outer edge of the parking lot, its lights on as he leaned up against the door. He waved to her across the parking lot when he spotted her.

She began to walk quicker, eager to head out to the nightclub as they’d planned. She stopped in her tracks as she neared the car, when she saw a train of SUVs move past the parking lot. Everything seemed to move slowly at that moment when she saw a window roll down, revealing a sinister face of pale leather-like skin with an abnormally large grin that took up nearly half of it. In the dark she couldn’t tell if it was a Halloween mask or, worse, a real face.

She wildly surmised the latter – a mutant – when it outstretched a hand, and a jet of red energy shot forth, smashing into her fiancé’s car. It must have hit the gas tank, because the resulting explosion lifted her bodily and shoved her back. “Richard!” She screamed, climbing back to her feet and running toward where he’d been tossed.

He lay, stunned and bleeding, ten feet from the car. She knelt down next to him, and put her head near his, and she could hear his ragged breathing. “H-hurts,” he managed.

She gasped in horror when she saw a long, jagged piece of metal torn from the car frame, embedded in his back. “Richard, please, holds on,” she said. She reached into her purse, which had somehow remained on her shoulder, and grabbed her cell phone, and began to punch the 9-1-1, when she heard a squeal of tires, and headlights then blinded her – it was the SUV.

Someone inside the car stepped out, and she saw it was the man with the hideous features. She whimpered. “Please, leave me alone.” She couldn’t understand why this mutant was doing this. “Oh God, please.”

The man raised his hand again.

***

“Come on, get back in, Rodgers. We have work to do before the cops show up,” a voice from inside of the vehicle said as the man stepped back from the now-smoking bodies of the couple he’d just killed. Across the parking lot, he could see several horrified people cowering behind their cars.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” he said, walking back over to the passenger’s side, and climbing back in to the vehicle, and shutting the door. He lifted up the sleeve of the long duster he wore, and fiddled with the straps of a gleaming metal contraption that was attached to his arm.

“What is it with you and you fidgeting with that thing?” the driver asked, and the other men in the back seat laughed.

“Sorry, Kane, I think my arms are too long or something and it doesn’t fit right. Blew a hole through my damn coat – this thing cost me a hundred bucks!” he said, his voice muffled by the mask he wore, holding up his arm to show the spot where the muzzle of the S.H.I.E.L.D. weapon had burned straight through the cloth of his coat when he had triggered it on the begging woman.

“Quit your bitching,” the driver said, his voice similarly muffled. “These things probably cost ten thousand each. Who cares about your fuckin’ coat? Take it to the Boss.”

Rodgers shook his head. “No fucking way. He’d chew me out. So what’s the plan?”

Kane reached up, tapping his earpiece that hid within the mask he wore. “Boss called in while you were wasting the chick. We’re leaving Union Station alone, going after the IRS building and the memorial.”

One of the men in the back seat shook his head. “Hell no, I ain’t attacking the memorial – my great granddad’s name’s there. He fought an’ died in the War.”

“Oh grow up.” Kane snarled. “We ain’t attacking it anyway – we’re assigned to the IRS,” he said, the car tires squealing slightly as the car picked up speed and ran the yellow light. The headlights of the vehicle illuminated their target building several hundred yards away.

Kane applied the brakes when they jumped the curb into the parking lot of the IRS complex, and they rolled to a stop in front of the building.

The men – five besides Kane – climbed out, each wearing heavy coats and masks that hid their faces as well as the state-of-the-art S.H.I.E.L.D. augmented weapon-suits they wore hidden away to create the illusion that they were mutants.

“Let’s do this,” one of the men said, moving eagerly toward the front door of the building.

Kane stopped at the sign that stood framed by brick, in fancy writing, in front of the building, naming the offices in the building, including the IRS. He turned his hand toward it, the barrel of the laser-projecting weapon moving with it where it hung below his wrist. He clenched his fist over the triggering mechanism, and flicked the small trigger with his thumb.

A coruscating beam of coherent energy burst forth, and he immediately felt the subsequent heat-spike across the weapon’s suit. He moved his hand and the laser tracked with his movements and it carved into the sign, the wood smoking and sizzling as it went.

He felt a tingle of sweat drip down the back of his neck as the heat rose, and he completed the carving, and released the trigger. He stepped back, and eyed his handiwork with fascination when the front glass door of the multi-storied building burst open. A security guard moved out, his hand on his holstered gun. ‘Night shift,’ Kane thought with a snort of amusement.

“Hey!” The guard shouted. “Put your hands up, and get down on your knees. You’re trespassing and destroying government property.”

“Sorry, we can’t do that,” Kane said, and the guard began to draw his weapon. “Waste him.”

Kane squinted at the bright blast of energy that emerged from Rodger’s and William’s suits and seared through the man before he could bring his gun up or even take the safety off.

“Let’s get inside. Torch anything important. We have three minutes before the Boss wants us out of here, leave the security cameras intact – we want them to see us,” Kane said, and followed his men into the building.

He stepped carefully past the man, the burnt hole in the man’s chest wafted an unpleasant odor in the air which made him move more quickly, leaving behind a body, and a still smoking sign now engraved with the words ‘Mutant Rights Now!’, a slogan that would be joined by identical ones on the front of the memorial’s museum, and the pavement in front of Union Station as they left.

*****************************************************************

Westchester, New York

“’Mornin’, Sugah,” Rogue said quietly when she saw Remy’s eyes slowly crack open.

It wasn’t quite morning, the sun wasn’t even peeking over the horizon yet, but the glow that foreshadowed that event was starting to become visible, washing out the light of some of the stars on the horizon.

Remy smiled, and rolled his neck to stretch the muscles that had tensed from the way he’d been laying. He turned over on his side to face her, and draped an arm over Rogue’s hip. “Good mornin’, Chére. You get enough sleep?” he asked, his eyes locking with hers.

Rogue nodded. “Yeah, Ah jus’ woke up like five minutes ago.”

She paused. “Yah were talkin’ in your sleep. Bad dreams?” She asked, concerned.

“Mmm,” Remy mumbled, stretching, and shaking his head. “Non, not dis time. Jus’ de opposite, in fact,” he said, a devilish smirk appearing on his face.

Rogue rolled her eyes. “Well they better’ve been about me, mister.” She said teasingly.

Remy grinned. “Dey were. Well, you an’ a can of whipped cream.”

Rogue blushed slightly. “Remy!” She gasped, burying her face into his shirt. She sighed contentedly at the feeling of the rumble of his chest as he chuckled.

She finally moved her head up when he kissed the top of her head, and looked seriously into his eyes. “Maybe, someday…” She said quietly.

Remy’s eyebrows rose and his hand came up to touch her cheek. “Definitely someday,” he said, knowing she was thinking more about her powers than about the details of his dream. “Dat is, if you’re into dat.” He said, a slight grin curving his lips.

Rogue smiled, and laughed slightly. “Maybe – guess yah’ll jus’ hafta find out yahself.” She said, the serious moment broken.

He leaned closer, pressing a kiss to her lips, which remained closed. She pulled back after a moment. “Let’s wait on more of that,” Rogue said softly, “Ah don’ think y’want to do more b’fore Ah brush mah teeth.”

Remy laughed, and sat up. “Probably a good idea. You go do dat, I’ll stop by my room an’ do de same, an’ then I’ll head downstairs t’get breakfast started.”

Rogue nodded, and then groaned, reaching up to touch her face. “Ah’ve gotta clean up too, probably look a mess now.”

Remy shook his head, and gave her another close-mouthed kiss before jumping to his feet and reaching down to grab her hand and pull her up with him. “Non, it’d take a lot to make y’look like a mess, ma belle Chére. But if y’gonna be a while cleanin’ up, can you get Sarah up for me when y’done?”

Rogue nodded. “Sure, Remy, see yah downstairs,” she said as followed Remy across the roof, letting herself float down onto her balcony while Remy continued along the roof toward his own.

She slid the door open – she’d left the door unlocked in hopes that they would spend the night on the roof like that – and then entered her room. She kicked off the platform shoes she’d worn to get her a bit closer to Remy’s height last night, and she padded over to the bathroom in her socks.

‘Ugh,’ she thought to herself, ‘Remy’s sweet, but he’s full of it – I look like crap.’

She shook her head as she looked into the mirror. Her light eyeliner had smeared during the night – Remy likely had some on his shoulder where she’d laid her head – and her light pink-red lipstick had smudged in several places on her lips and completely gone near the corners of her lips, likely worn off during the events of the night. She blinked wearily, and grabbed a cloth and her makeup removal cream.

It was tedious work, but within a few minutes her face was bare, with no hint of makeup on it. She shimmied out of her skirt and her shirt as she moved into the bedroom, grabbing a pair of jeans and a shirt which she laid on the counter by the sink before moving to start the shower.

***

Several minutes later, she set down the brush she’d been using on her still slightly-damp hair, and then leaned forward to get a better view to apply a ghosting of eye-shadow.

She set the applicator down, and brushed her hair back a final time with her fingers, before nodding with satisfaction, and left the bathroom.

Rogue turned the doorknob, opening the door to the hallway. It was still early, and she didn’t see anyone up and about in the hall, but she heard several noises, movements from different rooms, of people getting ready for the day.

She moved down the hall, and knocked softly on Sarah’s door. Sarah’s voice called out from inside saying that it was okay to come in, so she opened the door and entered the room, shutting it behind her.

She could smell shampoo and the mirror of the bathroom was all fogged up, so she knew Sarah had been up for a while and taken a shower as well. The pink haired girl sat on her bed – the blinds in front of the balcony door open to allow the dim light of the rising sun in.

A frown of concentration was on her face as looked into the mirror above the dresser and struggled to comb out some tangles from her wet hair. She glanced up, and seemed to forget about her hair as a smile lit up her face. “Rogue!”

“Hey sweetie, Remy wanted me t’make sure yah were up. He’s downstairs makin’ breakfast.” Rogue said, moving across the room to sit down next to her.

Sarah smiled, and grabbed the comb again. “Yep, I’m up, but my hair isn’t. I think I slept on it wrong last night.”

“C’mere, it’s easier when someone else does it,” Rogue said softly, reaching out to grab the comb from her hand, and Sarah set the mirror down on the bed.

“Thanks,” Sarah said, her hands settling on her lap as she let Rogue begin to run the comb through her hair, gently loosening the several knotted rat’s-nests that had formed overnight and been made worse by the shower.

Sarah cleared her throat as one tangle quickly met its demise under Rogue’s combing. “Did you have fun with Remy last night?” Sarah asked with a grin as she craned her neck back as far as possible to glance at Rogue.

“Yeah,” Rogue smiled back. “It was great. We went to a French restaurant, and walked around the city,” she said with a contented voice.

Sarah smiled, wincing for only a moment as the comb caught on one of the tangles. “You got back late last night?”

“Yeah. We went up on the roof when we got back.”

Sarah’s eyes lit up. “I thought I heard you up there, but I wasn’t sure if I was just imagining it or not. An’ I didn’t want t’interrupt you guys, so I stayed here….” She said, grinning slyly.

Rogue laughed softly. “Thanks, sweetie, it was nice havin’ some alone time together.”

She ran the comb through Sarah’s damp hair once final time, and then set it down. “There yah go.”

Sarah turned around, reaching up to touch her hair for a moment, and then hugged Rogue tightly. “Thank you, Rogue, no one’s really done something like that for me for a long time. Since my mommy died...”

Rogue frowned, and hugged her back just as tight. “Y’welcome, sweetie. Don’ be afraid t’ask for help like that – Ah’m glad to. Remy would be too.”

Sarah nodded against her, before pulling back, her eyes damp. “I know. Sometimes I forget I’m not on my own like in th’tunnels.”

Rogue nodded, and patted her on the back softly.

Sarah grabbed the comb and mirror, and carried them over to her dresser, before turning around. “Alright, I’m ready,” she said, and Rogue followed her from the room.

*****************************************************************

Bobby hesitated at the entrance to the library where Kitty was working. They’d barely spoken a word to one another since she’d returned from break, and half a week had passed since.

At first he’d brushed it off to school work – they’d had their big test on Monday, and she’d been working on the hard-drives for Logan, but it had begun to seem like a deliberate avoidance, to the point of her leaving the computer room shortly after he entered.

He had begun to wonder if he’d unwittingly done something to piss her off – he’d had enough experience of doing that while he’d been dating Rogue that it was likely. Or if something had happened during break that had made her avoid him.

He’d tried to talk to Jubilee about it, but she’d said she didn’t know anything.

He’d finally talked to Piotr – who, other than Jubilee, was probably the best person to go to when it involved things going on around the mansion.

Talking to him had been like trying to pry a bank vault open with a crowbar. He’d been utterly silent on what was going on with Kitty, and merely said that if Bobby wanted to know, he should ask Kitty herself.

It was what Piotr wouldn’t tell him that actually told him something. The way he had tensed up at the question, and been so close-lipped hinted to Bobby that Kitty had told him something, and either asked him to say nothing, or he had interpreted it as something he should say nothing about.

And so here he was, taking Piotr’s advice to ask Kitty herself. He finally raised his hand, and rapped his knuckles against the doorframe. Kitty waved a hand toward the entrance of the door, gesturing for him to come in.

He looked around the table she was sitting at, bent over a hard drive, trying to link a cable from her computer to the slightly damaged connection port on the hard drive, which she’d repaired as best she could. A bright lamp next to the table had been turned and bent down to shed light on her work.

She set it down, satisfied, as the connection slid into place and her laptop screen flickered as it began to recognize the connected drive. Bobby moved further into the room, and she glanced up, and froze like a deer in the lights of a car when she saw who had entered. “B-Bobby,” she said, trailing off hesitantly.

“Kitty, can we talk?” He asked.

She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed shakily, before nodding. “Alright.”

He moved to her another chair at the table and sat on the edge of it as she turned her chair to face him. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Kitty, what’s going on? We’ve barely even talked since break ended. Did I do something? Did something happen during break?” He spread his hands out beseechingly. “If it’s me, I’m sorry, I don’t know what it was. I talked to Jubes and Piotr, but neither of them would even give me a hint of what’s up.”

Kitty felt a faint smile curve on her lips at the fact that Pete and Jubes had kept it quiet for her - Jubilee had figured it out the day she’d returned, cornering Kitty in her room and getting her to tell her what was wrong.

Kitty moved a hand up to rub at her forehead, and she removed the black-rimmed reading glasses she’d been wearing to work with the hard drives. When her hand moved away, he saw tears begin to well up in her eyes. He sat up straight and reached forward, concerned, to grab her hand but she phased herself and his hand slipped through hers, the movement leaving a pins-and-needles tingling in his fingers.

She shook her head. “My parents are getting divorced, Bobby,” she said. “They’ve been planning it for a while now, and they’ve been separated for months, and didn’t tell me until this weekend. That’s what’s wrong.”

He looked at her with wide eyes. “Kit – you should have told me… I’m sorry.”

“That’s why I haven’t said anything – I don’t want you guys making a big deal over it.” She reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “It’s not like it’s uncommon or something like that. People get divorced all the time, right? I don’t want to be treated any differently.”

Bobby frowned at that, and nodded slowly. “I- if you want to talk about it…”

She shook her head. “No. Thank you, though.”

He let her compose herself, before asking the second thing that was still nagging at him. “Why… this explains a lot, but not why you’ve been avoiding me like I have the Plague or something.”

She sighed, and looked up at him, a pained look in her eyes. “Bobby, I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships the past few days because of.. the divorce, and… I.” She looked down. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“Do what?” He asked, trying to touch her hand again, and it slipped through her phased body once more.

“Us. This… this thing we tried, getting together. I know I said… but… I can’t anymore…” She said softly.

His face was frozen in surprise. “Kitty, what… what are you talking about? We were just going to try after break-”

She cut him off. “I know, Bobby, I’m sorry, but the divorce is making me rethink everything. You and me – it reminds me of my mom and dad, and their relationship. It’s just…”

She took a deep breath. She’d started thinking about it on the flight back to New York. It had shaken her deeply – she’d always thought her parents loved each other completely, and would never have conceived of the idea of them breaking up. The fact that they’d hidden it, for years most likely from the way they’d talked, had been even more disturbing. Had they ever really loved each other?

It had opened her eyes, and she began to consider if she really had serious feelings for Bobby, or if it was something else, an infatuation or simply an attraction. She’d come to a conclusion she knew Bobby would be upset by, and that had been the reason she’d tried to avoid him until now.

“I think the idea of us while you were with Rogue – it was thrilling. It was the forbidden, flirting with someone I shouldn’t have been, because you were with someone else. That made the whole idea even more attractive.”

She raised a hand to silence him so she could finish what she was trying to tell him. “Please, Bobby, you’re a great guy, but I don’t think you’re the right one for me. I think we were – or at least I was – in love with the idea, but not with you.”

Bobby let out a sigh, running a hand over his face. “Kitty, I don’t – I - I broke up with Rogue for you – for us.”

“I know,” she whispered, tears running down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Bobby. I think that was part of it too – I don’t want a relationship, not after what happened, that started by breaking up another relationship like that. We hurt Rogue, so badly, and I don’t want that to be me in a few months, or a year, or whenever. I love you, Bobby, you’re a great friend, and you’re funny and cute, but I’m not IN love with you. And I don’t want to build something off of that and end up like my parents.”

“Kitty…” he began, looking hurt, which made her feel only worse about what she was doing.

She closed her eyes, and stood up. “Bobby, please, understand, I’m sorry.” She said, before bolting out of the room, phasing through the chairs in her way, her laptop and the hard drive left forgotten on the table – something that told him she was more upset than he’d realized. She needed time, he thought, time to think before he went after her. He’d learned that lesson the hard way far too many times with Rogue as well.

***

Kitty laid motionless, face down on her bed – it had been over an hour since she’d basically broken it off with Bobby. She’d calmed down, her thoughts no longer a jumble like they had been when she’d been talking to Bobby, and she knew she’d done the right thing. Bobby deserved better than her – someone who was in love with more than just the idea of him. And she deserved better as well – a relationship that she felt was right for her.

And so, she squeezed her eyes shut at the incessant ringing of the phone next to her bed. She finally groaned, and reached out blindly toward the phone when it didn’t stop ringing.

She brought the cordless phone up to her ear and clicked the “Talk” button. “H’lo?”

“Kitty,” came the voice of Theresa Pryde over the phone.

Kitty turned over on the bed, sitting up. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

“I think you know, honey. I’ve called you twice since you got back, and you haven’t answered or called back.”

Kitty winced slightly. “Yeah, sorry, mom, I just… needed time.”

Theresa was quiet for a moment. “I understand, honey. I was calling you before just to see how you are. Now I have something to tell you.”

“Yeah, I’m doing alright, considering everything. What is it you wanted to tell me?” Kitty asked calmly.

“Today your father and I signed the papers… It’s official, filed with the court and all that. I figured you should know. I know you were pretty upset we’d not told you.”

Kitty took a deep breath and closed her eyes – it was, as her mother said, official now. No wild hopes that they’d suddenly change their mind would help her ease her mind.

“Thanks for telling me, mom.”

“Sweetie… we’re sorry we didn’t tell you about the divorce, we just were trying…”

“No, mom, I get it,” Kitty said with a sigh. “I talked to some friends who helped me realize why you did it. You were trying to protect me. And I know it must’ve been hard for you guys to tell me. I’m not mad anymore.”

Theresa’s voice softened. “I’m- glad you understand, Kitty. I should have told you earlier.”

“So it’s really over?” Kitty asked, her voice breaking slightly.

“Yes, sweetie. Your dad’s moved out completely. I’m keeping the house and one of the cars, he’s living across town with Anna,” she said, mentioning the name of the woman he’d met several months before and begun dating. “Like we told you, it was mutual, there weren’t any problems deciding how to split things up.”

Theresa sighed. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. After you’re done this semester, what do you think about coming back home and finishing your degree here?”

Kitty’s breath caught in her chest. “W-what?”

“I’d like it if you came closer to home, honey. It’s been hard, by myself the last few months.”

“Mom, I like it here. I don’t want to uproot everything and go to some big Chicago college. I like the class size here, and my professors. I’m not some stranger in a class of hundreds of people. Everyone in the CompSci department knows me – heck, most of the people in the physics department know me too from all the time I’ve spent in there for class this semester. That’s part of why you guys let me come here.”

She could almost hear the shake of her mother’s head. “No, honey, Xavier’s… it was your father who wanted you to go there. I didn’t. I only went along with it because you couldn’t control your powers, and Xavier’s seemed to be the only solution we could find. But now you’ve got control of them – and I’m so proud of you for that. Do you really need to stay there anymore? There’s plenty of small colleges out here the same size as the one you’re going to. And for a lot less money because you’d be in-state.”

Kitty sighed with frustration. “No, mom, I don’t need to stay here – even though I’m still working on ways to use my powers. But I want to stay here. All my friends are here. Did you talk to daddy about this? If it’s about money, I know he’d want to keep paying for me to go here. Even if he can’t, I’ll… I’ll figure something out. Start working on campus, working for the Professor – he’d pay for me if I asked him to.”

“No! No, sweetie, I didn’t mean it like that – we’re not having any trouble paying for you. I just… want you closer home.” Theresa said.

“I know, mom, it would be nice to be there, but I want to be here. I need to be here. With people that understand me. I’d have to hide who I am at those other colleges.”

There was a sudden blare of voices that came over the phone from her mother’s side, as if she’d passed a group of people. “Okay, Kitty. I have to get back to the office; I was taking my lunch break. I just want you to think about it for me, okay? Just give it some thought and let me know. I won’t be mad if you want to stay at Xavier’s.”

“Okay, mom, I promise I’ll think about it. And… thanks for telling me about the divorce stuff.”

“No problem, sweetie, love you.”

“Love ya too, mom, bye,” Kitty replied, before dropping the phone away from her ear and pressing the power button. She let the phone fall to the side of her bed, and started to stand up. The muscles that had tense up during the conversation began to relax, and she dully placed the handset back on its charger, a pounding headache that had crept up on her now stabbing at her forehead.

A rapping at her door made her groan softly to herself – when Bobby’s voice called out it made it even worse. She was emotionally numb from talking to her mother and hearing about the finalization of the divorce, and from her conversation with Bobby earlier. She didn’t want to talk to him again.

“Kitty, it’s Bobby. I just… wanted to talk,” he said, and she could almost see him leaning his arm against the door, resting his forehead on it as he spoke.

When she didn’t answer, he continued. “I know you’re in there, Kit, Rahne said she saw you go in here. I just… I think we should talk about this. You’re going through something big, with your parents… I just want to make sure you’re thinking it through without this affecting you. Maybe you’re right, maybe we aren’t meant to be together, but I want you to be sure this is really how you’re feeling, and that it’s not something else.”

Kitty placed a hand over her mouth, biting back the part of her that wanted to reply – if she had to deal with this again, she felt like her head would explode. She needed to leave, get outside, something.

“Kitty?” Bobby called again. “Damnit, Kitty, I just want to talk to you. I’m going to open the door, okay Kitty?”

As the doorknob started to turn, she made her decision, and darted away from her bed, toward the wall across her bed.

By the time a confused Bobby looked around the room, she was already phasing through the wall two rooms away. She ignored the startled glances of those she passed in front of, Sam and Rogue being the two whose rooms she’d run through.

What she couldn’t ignore was when she startled Piotr. It wasn’t that she would have stopped – it was that she had to. She burst through his wall, through the mirror of his dresser as he finished sliding on a t-shirt mere feet in front of her. He physically flinched back, and then his body shifted into its automatic defense of changing into pure organic metal.

Her powers couldn’t phase her quick enough to keep moving through his shifting body, and she ran into him with a clanging thud – shocked back into her tangible form, she fell back against the dresser. The impact in her intangible phased form felt like it had weeks ago when Gambit had swept her feet out from under her with a kick as she phased.

“Kitty!” Piotr said, shifting back to his regular form when he realized who had just run into him. “Are you alright?” he asked, grabbing her arm and helping her up.

“Ow,” she said as he steadied her on her feet, and she reached up to tenderly touch her nose and then her forehead, both of which felt like she had run into… well, a tall metallic man. “Yeah, I think so. Sorry, didn’t mean to surprise you like that. Your shifting happened too fast for me to phase through.”

“No, I am sorry, Kitty, it’s a reflex and I had no idea that it would keep you from phasing. I think you might get a bruise,” he said. His hand which was much larger than her own, she found herself noting through the pounding pain of her now much worse headache, reached up to press two fingers lightly to her forehead, and she winced.

“You need to do something about that,” he said, turning toward a corner of his room where he kept his minifridge – a staple among the students because of how crowded the main fridge could get. He reached into the upper part where a small section was closed off as the freezer, and retrieved a blue gel icepack, and handed it to her as she sat down unsteadily on the edge of his bed, her body still feeling odd from the unexpected blocking of her phasing abilities.

“Thanks, Pete,” she said, and put to cold pack against her forehead, hissing at the sting. Her head had turned enough as she hit that her nose had missed the brunt of the force and likely wouldn’t give her raccoon-eye bruises – something she’d experienced once in a bike accident that had nearly broken her nose. “Do you have any Advil or something like that? I had a headache already, and now it’s even worse.”

Piotr nodded, and walked over to the bathroom, retrieving a bottle of Advil from somewhere within, and returning with it and a glass of water. She took it gratefully, and downed three of the capsules from the bottle.

She handed him the empty glass of water, which he placed on the nightstand before he sat down on the bed next to her. “So, why’d you decide to come charging through my room?” He asked teasingly.

Kitty blushed slightly at that. “Sorry, Pete, I wasn’t thinking when I did it – I probably scared the crap out of Rogue and Sam, too. I just – I needed to get out of my room.”

“What’s wrong?” He asked quietly.

“My mom called,” Kitty said.

“Oh. The divorce?” Piotr asked her, looking at her with concern.

“Yeah,” she said, scooting further back on the bed awkwardly as she held the ice to her forehead. She pulled her knees upward, and sat cross-legged next to him. “They, you know, signed everything today and filed it. It’s official now.”

“I’m sorry,” Piotr said, tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Still hurts, but not as much anymore after I talked to you Saturday,” she said with a small shrug. “I’d been avoiding talking to her until now. We made up, told her I understood why she didn’t tell me.”

She shook her head slightly. “Then she tried to talk me into going back home and finishing college there after this semester.”

Piotr glanced quickly at her. “Really?”

Kitty sighed. “Yeah, I guess she’s lonely back there. But I told her no. I don’t want to leave this place,” she said, gesturing around the room. “This’s the only place I really fit in, y’know?”

Piotr nodded, “Yeah, I feel the-“

Knocking on his door caused him to break off what he was saying. “Who is it?”

Kitty winced when she heard Bobby’s voice. “Hey Pete, you seen Kitty?”

Piotr opened his mouth, automatically starting to nod. Kitty’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm, and he paused to look at her. She shook her head, lowering the hand that was holding the icepack to put a finger to her lips.

He looked at her questioningly, and she repeated the gesture. “I- I haven’t seen her, Bobby, sorry,” he said aloud.

“Not even, like, last hour or so?” Bobby asked through the door.

“No, sorry, I’ve been in here since breakfast – I’m actually about to take a shower and head down for a late lunch.”

“Alright,” Bobby said, disappointment clear in his voice. “Thanks, Pete.”

Piotr waited until he heard Bobby walk away down the hall, before turning to Kitty again, an eyebrow raised. “You didn’t want to talk to him,” he said.

Kitty groaned, and put the icepack back on her forehead. “No. That was actually part of the reason I was running through the walls – he came to my room and I didn’t want to talk to him.”

She glanced up at Piotr, a helpless look in her eyes. “I pretty much broke up with him earlier, and he didn’t take it too well, and I – I was crying the whole time and probably sounded like an idiot, and that didn’t help.”

Piotr’s eyes widened at that. “Y-you broke up with him?” He asked, surprise evident in his voice.

Kitty nodded. “About an hour or so ago. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, with Mom and Dad divorcing, and I realized, after all that crap we went through, what it did to Rogue, I couldn’t live with myself after that. I realized I loved the concept, before we did anything, but I don’t really love him.”

“I’d been avoiding him,” she continued, looking down at her lap, “till I could figure out a better way to tell him, but I guess he figured out something was up.” She glanced up at Piotr, her eyes dancing. “I heard you wouldn’t tell him anything about what happened.”

Piotr smiled, and shrugged. “Even though you didn’t ask me to, I figured you wouldn’t want me just telling people, so I told Bobby he should ask you himself if he wanted to know anything.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“Pete…… did I do the right thing, breaking up with him?” She asked, her voice filing with uncertainty.

He bit his tongue to keep himself from being tempted to respond how he wanted. “I-I don’t know, Kitty. I think if you’re happy, and you think it was the best thing for you, then it was the right thing to do.”

She quirked a small smile up at him, leaning forward with her elbows resting on her knees, finally realizing his hand was still resting comfortingly on her arm. She reached up and touched his hand with the tips of her fingers. “Then I think it was the right thing. Do – do you mind if I hang out here for a while? I’ll talk to Bobby later, but right now I don’t want to run into him.”

Piotr shook his head, his cheeks coloring slightly when she touched his hand. “No, stay as long as you want, Kitty. And actually, if you want to keep busy and keep your thoughts off of things, I was going to ask you for some help with my computer. My internet browsers keep crashing after I use them for more than a few minutes, and I don’t have clue what’s wrong with them.”

Kitty grinned, and gave his hand a pat with her free one. She let her other hand slowly drop, the ice moving away from her forehead to reveal a pinkish-purple discoloration. “Alright, Pete, show me it,” she said, standing up and moving in the direction of his desk. She was glad he’d understood, being a close friend of Bobby’s as well, and that he had recognized her need to keep her thoughts elsewhere.

*****************************************************************

Rogue moved up slowly and quietly behind Remy, and nearly took him by surprise when she wrapped her arms around his waist. He twisted around, and his arms automatically moved around her and he rested his palms on the small of her back.. “Hey, Chére.”

“Ah’m ready for mah class, Professor LeBeau,” she said teasingly, “Am Ah your first student?”

Remy grinned – since taking over the phys-ed classes, he’d done some thinking about the college group, and decided to break them up and work with them individually on self-defense, and had set up times in the week for each of them.

Logan had done some work with Rogue, and Scott had done the basics with the entire team, but they hadn’t really hadn’t had much beyond that. It was an important thing to learn in his opinion, especially for Rogue to help her get a better handle on controlling her strength.

“Oui, Piotr’s later today, an’ de rest aren’ ‘till t’morrow an’ dis weekend.” He pulled back and ran his eyes over her attire – a pair of old sweatpants, and a t-shirt with sleeves down to just past her elbows.

“Now, I thought I tol’ you to wear a trainin’ outfit,” he said, a mock frown on his face.

Her lips twitched for a moment, and she looked down at her clothes. “This’s what Ah usually wear…..” she said hesitantly.

Remy reached forward, settling his hands on her waist. “It’ll do for t’day, but y’should wear somethin’ less baggy. Harder to move in dis.” He leaned down, kissing her forehead. “An’ y’don’ have to worry ‘bout hidin’ your skin with me.”

Rogue nodded, smiling sheepishly. “Ah guess Ah did sorta automatically dress t’do that. Sorta comes natural now, yknow?”

Remy smiled. “I know, Chére. It was de same for me.” He moved his hands from her waist, and grabbed her hand. “C’mon, let’s get started.”

Several minutes later, they were in the Danger Room, standing in front of a large padded training dummy he’d programmed to give maximum resistance. The room, and recent upgrades in the last year, had been designed with the increased strengths of many mutants in mind – Piotr could work with it without fearing wrecking it in his metallic form. Remy hoped that it would be enough for Rogue’s strength.

He leaned up against the training dummy, and spread his hands out. “Alrigh’, Chére, first a little background. Savate started way back in de 1800’s, with sailors an’ dock workers, ‘specially around Marseilles. ‘Specially sailors – dey needed to be able to hold onto somethin’ to keep their balance, an’ still be able t’fight, so they used a lot of kicks.”

“It spread through de port cities, an’ became a common self defense technique. Den, over time, it brought in boxing from England, an’ mixed it t’gether to become Savate. Remember, dis was after de French Revolution, an’ dere was a lot of unrest in de country.”

“Lately it’s been mostly turned into a sport-art, but it’s still taught some places for self defense – dat’s what I’m gonna teach you: Savate de Rue.”

Rogue nodded. “Okay, how do we start?”

“Logan teach you anythin’ about throwin’ punches?”

“Yeah,” she said, her hands closing into fists, coming up near her face in a typical stance. “A bit – mostly it was defensive things though.”

Remy smiled. “Good. Punchin’ in Savate is a lot like boxin’, so we can work on that later on if I see anythin’ I want us to work on. So let’s get to the kicking.”

He pushed off of the dummy, and stood fully. “Dis is all about bein’ able to kick – we throw as many kicks as we do punches. Your legs have got ‘least twice de muscle of your hands, an’ can hit a hell of a lot harder. My Professeur – he teaches both de sporting version an’ de street type – used t’be a fighter himself. In one match in Japan ‘gainst one of their fighters, he got both arms broken at de beginning of de fight, an’ he won it by knockout wit’ just with kicks.”

Rogue’s eyebrows rose. “Wow – that’s pretty intense.”

Remy grinned and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Alrigh’, what we’re gonna work on t’day is a move called de chassé bas. It’s one of de easier moves t’learn, but it c’n be one of de most important. It can be used to keep your opponent at a distance, force dem back from you in a fight. An’ if you hit right you could take out their kneecap – take dem out of de fight.”

He turned to face the training dummy and gestured at his hand. “With de chassé bas, you’re aimin’ at around your opponent’s thigh – dere’s other versions of dis kick that go for de stomach an’ higher, but we’ll get to those later. You’re shoving his thigh back, which can snap his knee straight, an’ also knock him off balance.”

“It goes like dis.” He snapped off a forward-facing kick that went so fast she realized he was moving only as she heard the sharp sound of his foot making contact with the padded training dummy.

He glanced over at her. “Okay, now slower so you can see just how to do it,” he said, repeating the kick, this time exaggerating his motion. “Up, an’ den your knee snaps your foot forward.”

He repeated it several times, until she finally nodded. “Alrigh’, Ah think Ah have the idea.”

He moved out of the way and circled behind her as she took his place in front of the training dummy, and tried to imitate his movements, while limiting the strength she put into the kick.

Remy shook his head. “Non, you’re turnin’ your knee too much to de side before as you kick. You want to use your knee to aim – just keep it up like dis, pointed at de target,” he said, patting lifting his leg into the first step of the kick, and showing her where her knee should be.

Rogue nodded. “Alrigh’, like this?”

She repeated the kick, and turned to look to Remy, who smiled and nodded.

“Dat’s a lot better,” he said. “Again – I want t’check out somethin’ else.”

Her foot lashed out, striking the dummy with a loud thud once again, and started to turn, only to find Remy already right next to her.

“You need t’use your hips more,” he said, placing his hands on her hips, and she blushed slightly at his closeness. “Here, start kickin’ slowly, an’ I’ll correct you as you go.”

As she raised her leg, starting to snap her leg forward, his hands applied a light pressure on her hips to twist them, the force from the movement in the direction of the kick adding to the force, causing a louder thud.

“Like dat. Dis uses your hips along wit’ your knee. Try it that way dis time.”

She repeated the kick, turning her hips into it this time, and he grinned. “Good. Little more turnin’ an’ you’re getting’ dere. Let’s keep workin’ on dis, because you look a little jerky puttin’ de two together, an’ we want it nice an’ smooth movement.”

***

Nearly an hour later, Remy nodded in satisfaction as Rogue moved forward, kicking out with one foot and then swiftly shifting her stance to kick with the other, nearly perfectly, before throwing several jabs into the training dummy.

Once he’d had her practice enough to begin smoothing her movements out, he’d started having her work with both legs, using the kick equally well with both – something important in Savate, because if you got too predictable, your opponent would be able to counter you. Interspersed amongst the training were small breaks in which he’d gotten her to show him her jabs, which were dead on.

“Okay, Chére, that’s enough for today,” Remy said, setting a hand on her shoulder.

Rogue relaxed and turned around, her face and clothes covered with sweat from the hour of training, and her cheeks rosy, her breath coming in small pants. She moved an arm up, wiping several beads of sweat from her forehead before they dripped down into her eyes. “Am Ah doin’ better?”

Remy nodded, grinning. “Damn good, Chére. You’re catchin’ on fast – I figured we’d still be workin’ on dis kick next week, but I think we can jus’ go over it for a few minutes, an’ den move on to somethin’ else.”

A pleased smile came to Rogue’s face at the praise. “Thanks, Remy. This’s fun. Ah think mah trainin’ with Logan has definitely helped me.”

Remy nodded thoughtfully, leaning forward to briefly touch his lips to hers. “Probably. I hope de others catch on as fast – it’ll make dis all a lot easier.”

“You teachin’ them all Savate?” She asked, grabbing a towel he’d set near the entrance to the Danger Room, and used it to dab at the moisture on her face and neck.

Remy shrugged. “Not sure. Piotr, Dani, Bobby an’ Sam for sure, gotta ask Lorna if she wants in on dis but I’d teach her de same – they’ve got de reach an’ de muscle mass, you, Lorna, an’ Dani are both built perfect for it. Not sure ‘bout Kitty an’ Jubes – I think Aikido might be better for dem: dey’re shorter, an’ got really slight builds, an’ I ain’ sure Savate would be de best for dem. Aikido is alot ‘bout fightin’ mainly a larger opponent, an’ turning their force an’ their weight against dem when dey attack you.”

“You know Aikido too?” Rogue asked curiously.

Remy shook his head. “Took some time to learn de basics of it, but not much more. Maybe I can get de Prof. to set dem up wit’ an Aikido class in town.”

“I know de basics of a lot of martial arts – when I fight I’m always changing, an’ mixin’ dem together, because it makes it a hell of a lot harder for someone to figure out what I’m gonna do next. But I’m only really experienced in Savate an’ wit’ Taekwondo, which is a lot like Savate – big emphasis on de kicks. Maybe American Kickboxin’, which is basically poor-man’s Savate de Rue dumbed down to start wit’ mainly all punches an’ finish off wit’ kicks.”

Rogue smiled, and followed him out of the Danger Room after they’d cleaned up. “This was a great idea, Remy – teachin’ ev’ryone like this.”

Remy shrugged. “Well, you were de one dat gave it to me. I was tryin’ to come up wit’ stuff to have you guys do for your phys ed classes, an’ I remembered you askin’ me to teach you Savate, so I figured ev’ryone else might as well learn too.”

Rogue stopped as they neared the changing rooms, running a hand through her damp hair. “Glad you’re th’one doin’ it,” she said softly. “Ah- Ah better go shower, yah really got me sweatin’ t’day.”

“Okay,” Remy nodded, “see you upstairs.”

*****************************************************************

“Hello,” a voice came from the entrance to Annie’s office, startling her from the form she was filling out to order some new medical supplies. She looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw a stocky man whose body was covered completely in blue fur. He wore a shirt and pants, as well as a pair of glasses that gave him a somewhat sophisticated look.

“Hi,” Annie said, standing up.

The man smiled, and extended his hand, shaking hers. “You must be Annie. Charles mentioned he’d hired you. I’m Hank.”

Annie nodded, smiling, “I recognize you – Dr. McCoy, Secretary of Mutant Affairs. I’ve been an admirer – I gave thought of going into politics years ago – bring a little bit of my medical knowledge into a place I could have more influence.”

Hank gave her a small nod. “Yes, well, unfortunately politics are a tough business – I resigned two weeks ago. The president’s been keeping it under wraps for a while until the Alcatraz incident cools down in the news.”

“Oh,” Annie said, looking at him with surprise. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’d heard people had seen you around the mansion, but I hadn’t realized it wasn’t on Mutant Affairs business.”

Hank nodded. “Unfortunately the President and I had a difference in opinion over weaponizing the cure. They chose to do it without consulting me, or even asking my opinion on the potential fallout in the public of such a move.”

He spread his hands outward. “So, Charles invited me to come back to the mansion – I was once one of the X-Men, you see, one of the first students Charles taught. I moved on to go finish my education elsewhere and move into politics, but I have many fond memories here. So, I’m afraid you’ll be seeing much more of me around here,” he said, flashing her a white-toothed grin.

Annie chuckled. “Well that will be nice – although I’m sorry you lost your job.”

Hank shrugged slightly. “I learned long ago not to count on a job to too much of an extent when you are in the political realm.”

He looked around the office, as if noticing it for the first time. “My, I must say, this office looks extraordinarily better than it did when it was mine. One of my biggest flaws is the inability to keep a clean and non-cluttered office. I know Jean wasn’t much neater,” he said, “so my congratulations at managing to clean up a decade’s long mess.”

Annie blushed faintly. “Thank you, Dr. McCoy – I guess I’m a bit… intense… when it comes to neatness. Always suspected a mild case of OCD,” she said with a laugh.

“Please, just Hank. And I know what you mean. I often wonder if most scientists have a hint of it. Unfortunately, mine only seems to appear in the realm of the written word, and not the messy office. I can obsess for hours over getting my memos or scientific papers precisely how I want them.”

He glanced at the clock on her wall. “Alas, I must get going – I drive to the airport – I am finishing packing up my apartment back in D.C., and I have to be there tomorrow to let the moving company in. And make sure they don’t drop any of my instruments.”

“Alright, Hank,” Annie nodded, “It was nice to meet you – hopefully I’ll see you around more often now. In fact, perhaps we could talk over coffee some morning – I’m very interested in your research on the X-Gene, and its heritability. I’m not a mutant, but my son Carter is, so the topic has interested me since I found out he was.”

Hank smiled, and shook her hand once more. “Certainly, I enjoy discussing my work, especially with a fellow medical colleague who actually can grasp it. It was a pleasure meeting you,” he said warmly.

After he’d left, Annie shook her head in amazement, thinking about how far she’d come. A couple years ago, she’d have been too petrified by such a physically visible mutant like Hank to even say a word to him, let alone have a conversation like she just had.

She’d never really understood the fear she’d had for mutants, but the revelation that her son was one had been the first shock that made her face it and overcome it. The time spent here at the mansion, making friends, seemed to have banished any remaining vestiges of it.

*****************************************************************

“So far, there are ten confirmed dead, and several dozen are injured – three in the intensive care unit. Officials are estimating thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to the buildings attacked. This attack in Kansas City is just the latest in a recent rash of attacks on city and state government properties and local city landmarks across the country being attributed to mutant groups. Vague stories of mutants using their abilities have been told by eyewitnesses to the rash of attacks, and may be related to the recent Magneto capture and his terrorist actions.”

The view on the screen flipped to a picture of Worthington Labs from before the battle there.

“In San Francisco, a young mutant is attempting to gain help from the ACLU to sue Worthington Labs, due to a claimed inefficacy of their mutant cure, claiming they were part of the early batch receivers in private trials that occurred close to a month ago. The unnamed mutant is claiming damages due to their powers supposedly returning just days ago.” The newscaster said, his tone somewhat bored as he read the top stories.

“The ACLU has already expressed interest in helping the case, and the mutant was unable to be reached before this broadcast. Worthington Labs released a statement assuring us that their cure was flawless, suggesting that the mutant was never part of any trials of the cure product and simply attempting to cheat them out of their money, or spread fear amongst mutants that have taken or are considering taking the cure.

Logan jabbed the remote, turning off the TV set with a shake of his head, turning his attention to the door to his bedroom which had opened moments before. He’d known who it was that was coming before she’d even hesitated outside the doorway for several minutes, but he’d let wait until she was ready to open the door.

“Yet more bad news involving mutants?” The beautiful white-haired weather witch asked as she rolled her eyes at the now silent television.

Logan grunted. “When is there anything else?” he asked the woman who’d been on his mind – even as he slept – over the past few days, and he stood up from the bed.

Ororo smiled ruefully. “Exactly. I wish there was more positive – it’s just so depressing hearing this day after day, the mutant hate growing in volume in this country.”

“It’ll change, Darlin’,” Logan said. “Just like it changed for all th’other persecuted people in the past. Sure, we ain’ exactly there for some folks yet, but we’re getting’ there. It just takes time to changes people’s minds, ‘specially when they been raised to think different.”

She nodded. “You’re right, I guess.”

Logan grinned for a moment, and then looked at her seriously. “So what brings ya up here?”

“Well, I’m done teaching classes for the day, and I kind of felt like getting outside. I… I wondered if you’d like to take a walk through the grounds like we used to…..”

Logan inclined his head, and gestured for the door. “Alrigh’, sure thing.”

***

“Workin’ with Remy to get the boundaries more secure,” Logan said, nodding off toward the forest where much farther in, their fence had been easily circumvented in Remy’s test of the security.

Logan sighed. “Just lookin’ at his plans, I can see its gonna be damn expensive… but once we get that thing in place, ain’t nothin’ gonna get in here – ‘least without us knowin’ about it beforehand. No more of the bullshit Stryker pulled.”

Ororo smiled. “I’d expect nothing less of him. Any idea when it might be done?”

Logan shook his head. “No, he’s still plannin’ and pricin’. Best bet is late this summer, before the new school year starts, at the latest for full operation.”

Ororo nodded. “Hopefully it will mean fewer early-morning wakeup test runs,” she said with a chuckle, “Sorry about that by the way.”

Logan smiled and shrugged, his shoulder bumping gently into hers as they walked. “No problem. He was jus’ doin’ what we’d agreed to th’week before.”

Logan glanced over to her, meeting her eyes. “Actually glad you invited the Cajun to the mansion. Wasn’ sure about him when he first got here, but I think we really needed someone like him showing up here. He’s a good kid.”

Storm sighed, and smiled softly. “I know. I can’t imagine what would have happened the last few weeks if he hadn’t been here.”

“Me neither. ‘Cept for Rogue.” Logan shook his head, grimacing. “Things wouldn’t have gone good with her. I was the only one really close to her before the Cajun. I mean, you and Annie were great friends to here – she really needed that – but there’s friends, and then there’s family. I was her only really family for the longest time, an’ she closed herself off from ev’ryone else in that way.”

“Now she’s changed so much, an’ she’s got Remy an’ Sarah in that same spot as I am, an’ she’s startin’ to open up to everyone else, too. An’ if it weren’t for Remy, she’dve taken th’Cure. No doubt in my mind.”

Ororo sighed, and looked off, staring into the woods. “I was pretty harsh to her back a few weeks ago when we first heard about it.”

Logan shook his head. “She knows y’didn’t mean anything by all that.”

Ororo smiled slightly. “I know that. But now I’m finding myself wishing I’d thought it through a bit more. Some people, like Rogue, should have the chance to get the Cure if they want to – no one should have to live like that.”

She shook her head. “But enough about that - this is fun,” Ororo said, her hand nudging Logan’s playfully. “It’s been quite a while since we’ve walked together like this.”

Logan smiled, and slowly, but deliberately let the tips of his fingers entwine with hers. “I know, things just ain’ been the same. No time, ev’rythin’s been busy.”

“And Jean,” she murmured, a hint of wistfulness and frustration laced deep in her voice.

“And Jean,” Logan agreed. “Ain’ nothin’ been normal since Jeannie came back.”

He sighed and grimaced, looking up at Ororo’s expression. “Sorry it hasn’t been. Things’re just… different… weird…..”

“You love her,” Ororo said calmly, little expression audible in her voice.

Logan nodded. “I do – in some way. But things are different now. I know I’m gonna be the second person in her life. Even if Scott really is dead, he’d always gonna be that big part of her – she made that choice before Alkali.”

“You an’ me, though, Darlin’….” He said softly, stopping and placing a hand on her shoulder. “I thought we might have…… somethin’. Before all this, I thought we were goin’ somewhere with all this.”

She swallowed heavily, feeling her breath stop in her chest when he said what she’d been feeling all this time.

He shrugged, running a hand through his hair with a sigh of frustration. “Damnit, you know I’m shit at this sorta thing. I just…. I’ve felt like there was somethin’ with us, somethin’ developin’. an’ I’ve decided that I wanna maybe take the chance and see where this goes.”

Ororo stopped walking, pulling him to a halt next to her. “Really?” She asked quietly. “I mean I – I guess I thought it might just be one-sided for me…”

Logan shook his head, and reached up to twirl a strand of her pure white hair around a finger. “I’ve felt it too, darlin’. I’ve been thinkin’ about it a lot lately. So lets try it. See how it goes from there. If things don’t work out, let’s agree to say good friends.”

“Okay,” Ororo said, her eyes bright. She suddenly had the urge to hug the life out of Annie for being smart enough to get her to keep trying – obviously things between him and Jean weren’t quite as serious or deep as she’d been afraid of – a good thing for her. “We’ll try it. If it doesn’t work, it’ll just have been…. Friends with benefits for a while.”

Logan laughed quietly, “Alright.”

The next moment was a blur to Ororo, as she moved instinctively closer, and her moist, soft lips touched his chafed, rough ones in a tender kiss that lasted only for a second.

She pulled away, breathing heaver, her eyes clouded with something that put his animal instincts on high alert. “Thank you,” she whispered, leaning forward to press her cheek against his chest.

“My pleasure,” Logan said, huskily, “even if it wasn’t really expected.”

She laughed softly, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt, and then turned her face upward slightly. “Sorry, I’ve been wanting to do that for weeks now. I just couldn’t help myself.”

Logan shook his head, and reached down to grab her hands in his. “Don’t be. I…” He broke off, and looked down, a thumb running across her fingers. “I want to do it again, but I don’t want us to mess things up by going too fast.”

Ororo nodded. “You’re right.” Her eyes moved up to meet his. “I don’t want to push things either. Let’s just… keep walking like we were.”

Logan smiled slightly, and pulled away.

And this time, as they walked closer to the forest surrounding the school, Ororo’s hand slipped lightly into his.

*

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A/N: Hey all, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Again, not a whole ton of action, other than savate and the beginning scene, but a lot of character development. Hope the Bobby/Kitty breakup is turning out alright, it was a bit tough to get down – I think it’s the next big step in Bobby’s development as a character. Little bit for the Ororo/Logan lovers out there – they’ll at least give it a try, but we’ll see where exactly it goes.

Next chapter will be less character building, and more plot progression – S.H.I.E.L.D., and a whole lot more.

I’ve been pondering the future of the fic. I figure there’s 5-10 chapters left to tie up the things I want to tie up. That doesn’t mean the end of the story, however. I’ve been thinking about the best way to go about it, and I’ve decided I have enough in plotlines and ideas to keep this story going for quite a while.

I’ve decided I’ll end in ~10 chaps, and then begin a sequel – that way it’ll be broken into more manageable parts for newer readers, because I know personally that I’m more likely to read a 20-40 chapter fic with several sequels of similar size than I am to read a 50-80 chapter fic. I’m sure there’s some sort of psychology behind it.

So, around ten chapters left, and then a sequel to the story that I’ve got quite a few recent ideas for.

Thanks you all for reviewing, see you next chapter.