The Rogue, The Rat, The Demon, and The Cat

Chapter Three: The God of Bad Timing

Five A.M. as promised. The Professor mentally awoke every student in the institute and all of them came filing into the hanger eventually, dressed and ready to go but groggy. Scott and Jean were to accompany everyone on the jet and then fly it back to the mansion where they would maintain security.

Ororo was taking a role call of everyone there, while Logan and Hank piled the kids’ bags into the back of the jet. Kitty was partially asleep on Rogue’s shoulder, and Rogue had to nudge her when Ororo called her name three times. Kitty jerked awake and mumbled, “Present!”

“I’m not surprised she’s tired, after all the fun that she and Kurt had yesterday.” Amara whispered to Jubilee, who obnoxiously giggled.

Kitty ignored any and all comments; at this hour of the morning, she didn’t care about her social life. Rogue didn’t mind being used as a head rest; it felt nice to be needed for something.

“Everyone’s here!” Ororo called to Logan.

“All right, everyone get on the jet in a neat and orderly fashion!” Logan said sternly, standing beside Ororo. Little did they know that on this particular flight, they were going to have an extra passenger.

Matilda, dressed in a vintage bomber jacket and goggles her own size and a flapping long white scarf, observed all the students piling onto the plane. She felt a little worried about the noticeable distance between Remy and Kurt to Rogue and Kitty. “That won’t do. That won’t do at all.” She said, shaking her head. Just as the first students began to board the jet, she knew she had to act.

“I really hate to do this to them, but I need to buy some time!” Very quickly, Matilda ran behind Kitty and Rogue and opened the bags that they carried with them. All of the books and CDs that the girls had brought to amuse themselves with on the plane spilled out on the floor.

Rogue and Kitty turned to see all of belongings their spread across the floor. Kitty sighed sadly and Rogue just shut her eyes in frustration.

“Stripes?” Logan asked, expectantly.

“We’ll be right there Logan!” Rogue called. Neither girl heard Remy or Kurt approach and begin helping them with their things.

“Ahh. Such gentlemen. But no time to ogle today!” Matilda said, and she ran onto the plane. She looked around at the students trying to get situated. She stepped into the middle of the aisle and conducted motions with her arms, “Okay, you sit here… and you go here…”

Kurt handed Kitty her sparkly silver CD case. Kitty didn’t notice that they both were making a reach for her copy of Three Junes. In a perfect romantic comedy fashion, just as both reached for it, their hands rested one on top of the other. Kitty and Kurt looked at the contact and then looked into each other’s eyes. Both looked down in a vain attempt to hide their blush. Kurt was about to draw his hand away when he really got a good look at the sight of his hand atop of hers; there was her perfect, beautiful, pink skinned, normal hand beneath his hideous, freakish, blue, furry three fingered hand. That kind of beauty has no need to be hampered by something so… abnormal, Kurt thought, as he removed his hand with a sad sigh and stood. Kitty looked up at him curiously and then straightened herself as well.

Remy handed Rogue her copy of The Turn of the Screw and she zipped her bag back up. She smiled at him and said, “thanks.” She, Kitty and Kurt had begun to board the jet and Remy would have joined them had he not noticed something on the ground. A large black hard cover book was lying open on the ground and he figured it must have been one of Rogue’s. He picked it up and was going to close it until he noticed the pages. It was some kind of sketch book, and on the page that it had been opened to was a large sketch of a pair of eyes. But these weren’t normal eyes: where there should have been white, there was black. Since it was in pencil, he assumed that the penciled gray where there should have been color was intended to be red. Remy couldn’t stop the grin that grew on his face even if he wanted to; he didn’t have to give the book back immediately, right?

Like the professional thief he was, Remy pocketed the book in his trench coat and boarded the jet not far after Rogue. Rogue and Kitty had stopped to exchange a few words with Logan, who was in the pilot’s seat, and Remy was able to pull in front of the line a little (he didn’t mind the clear view of Rogue’s nice backside either). When he turned to face the aisle he saw that there were only two rows of seats left (each row seated two) and they sat on opposite sides of the plane. Kurt already occupied one seat on the right and was about to start reading Grendel again.

Remy had two choices: he could sit with Kurt and let Rogue and Kitty talk about… whatever it is that girls talk about or he could take the empty row and hope that a certain girl with gorgeous green eyes and white streaks in her hair would sit down next to him.

Matilda (who had coordinated the seating arrangements very carefully) walked up to him. “You know that if you sit next to Kurt, he will inevitably get blue fuzz on your coat.” Remy grimaced at that thought (the dry cleaning bills on his precious coat tended to run high). “Not to mention that at some point his tail will definitely brush up against your leg and it’s going to be really awkward sitting next to him for the rest of the flight. Whereas if you sit next to Rogue, if something of hers brushed against your leg, it wouldn’t be so much as awkward as it would be-“ Matilda didn’t even finish her sentence before he sat down in the empty row.

Remy looked up to be sure that Rogue was still speaking to Logan. After assuring himself that she was, he took the sketchbook out of his coat and studied it closer. It was black but covered in stickers: some from various rock bands, a few from the Emily Lives series, one Bettie Page sticker, and one that said “Boys are stupid- throw rocks at them!” (Remy didn’t care much for the last one). But something on the back caught his attention: drawn in the corner with a silver pen was an Ace of Spades, but instead of being colored, in the center was written “Gambit”. It was probably just something she drew in class while she was bored, and anyone who saw it would think nothing of it, but to Remy… well, how could he not grin knowingly? Remy lightly traced the drawing with his fingers; to him, it was about the equivalent of her putting their names in a little heart.

Remy hid the book from view again when he noticed Rogue and Kitty begin to walk down the aisle. Both their faces looked slightly panicked when they saw their choice of seats. Since Rogue stood in front of Kitty, she would be the main instigator of their fates for the rest of this trip. She looked back and forth between the two seats: Remy smiled at her brightly when she looked in his direction and Kurt was too immersed in his book to take notice of her.

“Yes Rogue, it looks like you’re going to have to sit next to Remy and sort out what happened yesterday whether you like it or-“ Matilda stopped mid-sentence when she saw Rogue take the seat next to Kurt. Kitty gave her a look saying “you’re making me sit next to Remy?” and she sat down grudgingly. Remy looked slightly hurt, but this would give him time to rifle through his little discovery. Matilda looked back and forth between the two rows at the people she was supposed to bring together. “Oh, these kids are clever. Okay, that didn’t exactly go how I planned, but I can work off of this.” Matilda sat down right in the middle of the aisle between the only four people she cared about on this flight.

“Everybody buckle up, and no yelling and running! I want to get through this trip without having to come back there, you hear me Drake?” Logan yelled from the pilot’s seat. Within the next moment, the plane took off out of the hidden waterfall exit and out into the wild blue yonder. Kitty almost immediately pulled out her CD player and slipped on her headphones. Remy looked at her profile from a distance to be sure that she wasn’t paying any attention to him. He looked over at the row right across from him and saw Rogue and Kurt both reading their respective books. Great, no one would notice him.

Remy pulled out the book once again and opened it to the first page. These sketches were incredibly old (judging from their dates) and were mostly of other people: a boy and a girl walking through the park holding hands, a mother holding a small daughter, two girls painting each other’s toenails (Remy couldn’t help but notice that the two girls bore a resemblance to Kitty and Jean). Going through the next few pages were all the same sort; just people Rogue might have seen somewhere touching each other.

Then Remy came across a portrait of her; it wasn’t the expressionless or the angry Rogue that most people saw on a day-to-day basis, but it was a shot of Rogue’s head. What struck Remy about it was that she drew herself with countless tears running down her cheeks. It was unbearably realistic. With uncovered fingertips, Remy reached out and touched the skin of the sketch in a vain attempt to wipe away the tears. Turning the page, he discovered that the sketches only got more disturbing: one showed Rogue laying dead in a coffin, a naked, blindfolded Rogue carrying a dead albatross over her shoulder, and one of a scene in a graveyard where a very regretful and sad Magneto, Mystique, Mesmero and Apocalypse were all standing around a tombstone with a massive “The Rogue- R.I.P.” engraved on it. Over each of the figures in the scene was a little line drawn to their mouths to connect to a caption that she had written above the scene. The caption read, “What a shame- I had so many more uses for her.”

Taking a quick look at the date, Remy saw that it had been drawn shortly after she had been possessed to release Apocalypse. He couldn’t look at that one for too long; it made him sad to think about all the betrayals she’s suffered. But when he turned the page again, he was pleasantly surprised.

There was a huge rendition of Remy and Rogue’s first meeting. It didn’t include the card blowing up in Rogue’s face (Remy was happy about that), but it was more about when Remy leaned in close to her face. He never told Rogue that he had wanted to kiss her on that day, but she had pulled away from him before he could do so… hmm, at least something hasn’t changed. The following pages were all in the same vain: drawings of his face, drawings of his face and body (she was incredibly accurate in drawing his coat), and sometimes just drawings of his eyes. Apparently that was the part of him that fascinated her most. In one head shot of him, she had drawn an arrow to his eyes and had written to the side, “Demon eyes.” Another arrow, this time directed at his mouth that she had drawn curled into his smirk, had written beside it, “Angel smile.”

Remy had a small, content smile on his face; he had always been self-conscious about his eyes, but it seemed that not only did Rogue like them, but that she couldn’t get them out of her head. Even on sketches that looked more like doodles, she had drawn his eyes somewhere on the paper.

When the dates started to read after Remy had joined the team, though, the subjects of her sketches got a tad more… racy. It started innocently enough; the odd shot of Remy shirtless or something (her attention to detail when it came to muscle tone was exquisite). Then there was a shot where oddly enough he was fully clothed, but she wasn’t. Remy could feel a slight blush creep into his face; he was behind her in the drawing, but his hands were caressing a pair of very full breasts (He hoped to God that she drew them true to life) and he was kissing that gorgeous neck that he had been so fascinated with only yesterday. Her expression resembled what he had seen yesterday: mouth parted, eyes shut blissfully, and one of her hands running through his hair. In the corner of the sketch, written in very cursive calligraphy, was the caption “Dreaming”. So she does dream about me, he thought to himself.

The drawings only got more raunchy. Some where they were only kissing… others where they were doing more. One that grabbed his attention was where she was on top of him, much like they were just yesterday. Except in this version they were both completely nude. The date in the corner the prior day’s date. He turned the page and saw a drawing of him standing up and fully nude. He looked like he was leaning on something, and nothing was hindering his naked glory. Again, it was dated the previous day. It dawned on Remy that Rogue had been lying through her teeth when she said that all she wanted from him was friendship. It was a possibility that the smirk on his face would become permanent from this point onward.

Kitty really wasn’t happy about sitting next to Remy; it wasn’t that she didn’t like Remy (she thought he was very nice), but she just really wanted to sit next to Kurt; he was her best friend after all (it had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted to clear the air between them about what had been going on lately-really!). But since she was going to be stuck next to Remy for the next few hours, she might as well get some things off of her chest that had been bugging her lately…

“Hey Remy?” Kitty asked very sweetly. Remy quickly shut the sketchbook and slipped it back inside his coat before turning to look at Kitty in the eye.

“Oui Chaton?” He replied, just as nice as she had.

“What exactly are your intentions for my roommate?” Kitty asked, keeping her face straight.

“Pardon?” He asked, arching his eyebrow.

“You heard me. I want to know exactly how you feel about Rogue.” Kitty crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly.

Remy looked confused. He paused, and took a deep breath before he answered, “Well, Remy think dat Rogue be very… interestin’ t’ know.”

“Interesting? What do you mean by interesting?” Kitty asked, a tad suspicious.

“Remy mean… dat she is belle. And dat she… well…” Remy ran his hand through his hair. Usually, he did well when he was put on the spot but for some reason he couldn’t speak the words aloud about his interest in Rogue. “Why do y’ ask anyway?”

Kitty shrugged. “Well, it’s like totally obvious that you both have a thing for each other. I was just wondering if your thing was just about the challenge of getting Rogue or if you want something more than that.”

Remy sighed, and it wasn’t a happy sigh. “Tell y’ de truth Chaton, it really don’t matter what dis Cajun want. It really up t’ Rogue an’ how much she willin’ t’ give.” He let out a bittersweet chuckle. “Don’t know if Y’ noticed dis or not, but she’s not really de easiest person to get to.”

Kitty let out a knowing huff. “I hear that. I’ve been living with her since she joined the Institute, and she still won’t talk to me unless I like pry her teeth out.” Remy didn’t look too happy about hearing this; if Kitty (who rarely shut up) couldn’t get Rogue to open up, then what were the chances that he could? Kitty must have seen how Remy reacted to her saying this. “But hey, before you moved in she was never this talkative. I think you might be making progress; you just can’t give up on her. I think that if she gets constant hammering from multiple angles, then eventually she has to give, you know? Like a dam.”

Remy let Kitty’s words soak in (there were quite a few, so it took a few minutes) before he glanced over to where Rogue sat with Kurt. Rogue seemed immersed in her book, but Kurt he noticed, had been looking straight at Kitty before Remy looked over. Then Kurt pretended to be reading again. Remy smiled and looked at Kitty who was blissfully unaware of Kurt’s actions. “Y’ know, Remy under de impression dat Bleu be quite taken wit’ y’.”

“Who? Kurt?” Kitty asked, incredulously. She looked over at Kurt; he was completely into his book. “No, no, he’s not…” Kitty stopped to think about how to phrase this. “He couldn’t be interested in me.”

“Et pourquoi pas?”

Kitty was at a loss for words. “Because… because… because he’s my best friend and that’s all we are, and he’s not going to look at me any other way.” She said with a fake finality in her voice.

“Ah. Remy see.” Kitty seemed satisfied that he would drop the subject; while she loved to hear about his personal life, she didn’t feel comfortable discussing her own with him. “Chaton clearly don’t see how Bleu look at her when she not lookin’.”

Kitty looked at him. “He…” She tried to show the excitement in her expression. “He looks at me when I’m not looking?”

“Oh, oui. Quite often actually.” Remy told her, with a reassuring smile.

“Really?” Kitty said, now smiling brightly.

Little did Remy or Kitty know at the time, that they were being watched and it wasn’t just by the little spirit of love that had situated herself on the floor. Kurt and Rogue both periodically peeked over their books to glance over at the row opposite them.

“Well, they seem to be hitting it off.” Rogue said, as she watched Kitty giggle at one of Remy’s jokes.

“Ja.” Kurt said, rather darkly when he saw Remy raise his eyebrows suggestively at Kitty. “Rogue, exactly vhat do you see in that guy?”

Rogue looked surprised at her brother. “Ah don’t know… Ah guess, it’s because he’s the only guy, besides you and Mr. Logan, who doesn’t treat me like Ah’m a bomb about to go off.”

“Others treat you that vay?” Kurt asked, sounding surprised and hurt on his sister’s behalf.

“Pretty much everyone, except you and Kitty, and Logan and the teachers, and… well, him.” Rogue said, motioning towards Remy.

“Rogue, you know that I only agree vith Scott on certain issues after he has conned me into believing him.” Rogue smiled a little. “But Scott is right about Herr LeBeau.”

Rogue’s smile faded suddenly. “Do all of yal have a pact about not trusting any guy that comes in from the opposing side or something?”

“Rogue, it has little to do vith that. Remy vas not a good person before any of this in the first place. He vas a thief and still is. You cannot trust him vith anything that you hold precious.” Kurt said, with his hands enclosed over his heart. Rogue got the point he was trying to get across.

“Kurt, trust meh. Ah’ve learned what to do by now when Ah think a person is trying to use meh.” Rogue said, looking at her gloved hands.

“I know that you can take care of yourself. I just…” Kurt looked down a little sheepishly. “I just vant to make sure you vill be all right.”

Rogue smiled; it felt good to have a brother. “Thanks Kurt.” Rogue looked back at Remy and Kitty, who were both laughing at Remy recounting one of his stories. Rogue snorted amusedly. “Hey, maybe Remy and Kitty should get together.” Kurt let out a small chuckle and they both resumed reading their books. Slowly, after a moment of silence, their eyes rose from their books and turned to look at each other. Then in almost perfect unison they looked over at Kitty and Remy again.

“No, Ah take that back. They shouldn’t.” Rogue said, shaking her head.

“Ja, they really shouldn’t.” Kurt enthusiastically agreed.

“La da di da, I’m bored, I’m bored, time to shake things up.” Matilda said in a sing-song voice. All four of her subjects had resumed an activity that required little-to-no talking: Remy was shuffling his cards, Kitty was reading an issue of Cosmopolitan while listening to her music, Kurt was in the home stretch of finishing Grendel, and Rogue still intently read The Turn of the Screw.
Matilda stretched her arms above her head. “Mmm mmm, that feels good! Wouldn’t that feel good right now?” Matilda directed her voice at the ladies, who both sat by the aisle. “Can’t you feel your arms and shoulders and back becoming more tense by the second?” Absently, Rogue reached a hand back to feel her shoulder and Kitty tried to flex her neck while reading. “And don’t even get started on your poor legs! They’ve been sitting there for at least over an hour, in that confining position. They must feel so cramped right now.” Rogue tried her best to extend her legs where she sat but it was no use, and Kitty shifted her legs uncomfortably. “You know what would feel great right now? A nice… long… stretch.”

That sealed the deal: Kitty almost immediately turned off her music and put her CD player and magazine to the side before standing, and Rogue followed suit by putting her book back in her bag. Both girls stood by their seats and began to do everything to roll out the kinks out of their bodies. They barely heard the gasps and moans of pleasure that they felt as the relief came washing through their bodies with each part they stretched. They had no idea the effect that these sounds were having on two boys on the plane.

“Hey guys… does that sound familiar?” Matilda said, wickedly. Kurt blushed, and Remy smirked at the memory of yesterday. Matilda looked back and forth between the two girls, who she was sure were distracted enough to notice… “Okay… cue the TURBULANCE!”

All at once the plane started shaking. Rogue and Kitty wobbled and tried to grip something to steady themselves with.
“What the hell…?” Logan said, trying to steady the controls. “Everyone sit tight!” He called back as a few of the students started to look panicked.

Matilda looked at Rogue and Kitty both trying to sit back down; Matilda would have none of that. Very quickly, she reached out her hands and grabbed an ankle from each girl. With all the strength that she had, she pushed Kitty’s ankle forward and pulled Rogue’s ankle back. “Oops.” She said, her eyes looking up innocently.

Rogue was falling backwards and just knew that she was going to bang her head on something. However a pair of very strong hands caught her as she fell backwards into a row of seats. When she looked up, she locked eyes with a certain pair of demon eyes that she had developed a minor fetish for. Remy smirked down at her and she brought her chin down to her chest to hide the blush that came from feeling his lovely muscular legs beneath her back.

Kitty, however, had stumbled forwards and when she tripped she got a very close eyeful of Kurt’s crotch. Her head was in his lap, and Kurt couldn’t help but stiffen his back and look very shy. Kitty froze for a second when she heard someone yell, “They’re going at it again!” (It was either Sam or Roberto, she didn’t care). Slowly she sat up and she and Kurt locked eyes briefly before facing forward and turning to the color of a tomato.

Remy gently helped Rogue to sit up. She straightened up her hair and fastened her seat belt, but she didn’t dare look at him.

“No one stand up until I give the clear! And everybody buckle up!” Logan yelled, messing with some controls.

“That’s odd. Air traffic control didn’t report any turbulence for this area…” The Professor looked suspiciously at the radar in front of the co-pilot’s seat.

“Crappity, crap, crap!” Matilda yelled, knowing that she was a second away from being discovered. She stood and frantically looked around the plane. “Need to hide, need to get out of here, need to do something!” She looked nervously at her subjects. “I think I’ll just meet up with them later at the mountain.” With a snap of the fingers, she was gone.

“Well chèrie, it’s seems dat fate has once again decided t’ bring us t’gether.” Remy said, smirking at Rogue.

“Yeah, sure.” Rogue said. It was the only thing she could think of to say at the moment; she couldn’t come up with anything better seeing as how it was difficult to be witty and duck your head so that the guy you just had an orgasm in front of yesterday couldn’t see you blush.

“Somethin’ botherin’ y’?” Remy asked innocently. Now Rogue could turn and face him; how could he ask something like that?!
Was something bothering her?! Well of course something was bothering her; just being around him made her bothered… and hot. God girl, stop thinking like that! Rogue thought as she allowed him to see the fuming, incredulous look on her face.

“Swamp Rat, you know perfectly well what’s bothering meh!” Rogue said, in a shouted whisper of sorts.

“Are we gonna play dis game again? ‘Cause Remy lost dis game yesterday when we played it before.” Remy said, putting on a mock despaired face. It wasn’t entirely mock though; he genuinely wanted to know why she had reverted to calling him Swamp Rat again.

“Oh you think you’re so smooth, with your Cajun accent and your nonstop flirting and your collection of phone numbers from all these girls and…” Rogue stopped when she realized that she had just proved why Remy was so smooth.

“Phone numbers? What are y’ talkin’ ‘bout?” Remy asked, looking genuinely confused.

“There’s like a whole wad of phone numbers from women you’ve picked up at bars and God knows where else stuffed in your wallet. Ah saw them yesterday.” Rogue grumbled. It had been one of the things that had been bothering Rogue since the day before… one of the things.

Remy furrowed his eyebrows trying to think of what she was talking about. He finally pulled out his wallet and rifled through it. Surprised he pulled out the culmination of women’s phone numbers that apparently he had stashed in there.

“See?” Rogue said, taking the pile of napkins and business cards and everything in between from his hand. “Let’s see: Erica.” She said holding up a napkin. “Who you met at the… Café du Monde? There’s one in Bayville?”

“Do not insult de sacred name of du Monde by sayin’ it’s in Bayville. Dere’s only one city where y’ can find de Café du Monde and dat’s down in N’awlins.” Remy said, very proudly.

“Oh. So you met Erica in New Orleans.” Rogue said, discarding that one on her thigh. She then reached for a business card. “Oh, here you’ve got Laura Fishel of the Fishel and Desmond Law Firm in… New Orleans, Louisiana?” Rogue looked at Remy; he just smiled at her, victoriously.

Rogue began to file through each of them: A cocktail napkin from Howl at the Moon piano bar in New Orleans, a napkin from the Court of Two Sisters restaurant in New Orleans, a dermatologist’s practice business card in New Orleans, a phone number scrawled on a city map of New Orleans, and everything else that had one common element. Rogue looked at the pile that had gathered on her thigh; she looked at Remy when she figured out that there was a pattern to this culmination. “So… you met all these women… before you left New Orleans and joined the X-Men?” Rogue asked.

“Oui. It seem dat Remy hasn’t found de time t’ clean out his wallet.” Remy said, taking the collection from her leg.

“Oh.” Rogue said, rather sheepishly.

As Remy himself sorted through the pile, he stopped and looked at Rogue when he realized something. “Chère… did y’ honestly think dis Cajun was goin’ out and pickin’ up women at bars every night since comin’ here?”

“Well…” Rogue started. Yes, because you’re gorgeous and sexy and I wish I could be one of these women that you have my number as a part of your collection. Rogue thought about what she just thought. Even though we kind of live in the same house and you don’t really need it. Instead Rogue just said, “You do go out with Wolverine to bars sometimes. Ah just figured that-“

“Chère, t’ tell y’ de truth, de bars de Wolverine takes Remy t’ tend not t’ draw a female crowd.” Remy said, flipping through the numbers as though he was looking for one specific one. Rogue didn’t answer; she stared straight ahead trying to look mad but failing. Something suddenly dawned on Remy. “Chère… y’ gettin’ jealous on dis Cajun’s behalf?” Rogue looked back at him suddenly with her eyes wide. “Dat’s so sweet.”

Nothing could wipe the grin off of Remy’s face; not even the remarkably offended look that Rogue had on hers. “You…” She shook her head. “You’re crazier than Ah thought.”

Rogue tried to act like it didn’t bother her that Remy had loomed in closer to her face, studying her lovely profile. “Aw chère… y’ know dat dere’s only one Miss Bayville for Remy.” He moved his mouth to where he was only a breath away from her ear. “An’ he wouldn’t want it any other way.” His words combined with his breathing made Rogue involuntarily shudder.

Rogue looked at him and tried to regain some of her composure. “Then how do you explain all the condoms that Ah also found in your wallet?”

“Most women like a man who plays it safe.”

“That’s not what Ah meant. Ah mean you’ve got like fifty on one roll in there. No man has that much sex in a day.” Rogue crossed her arms and looked away in a huff.

Remy dipped his fingers into his wallet again and pulled out the incriminating roll of condoms. He looked at each one and then said, “Dere only be eleven chère. Don’t know where y’ got fifty.”

Rogue rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Whatever. The point is you’ve got way more than any person could possibly have a need for.”

Remy paused looking thoughtful. He grinned to himself and then leaned in uncomfortably close to Rogue’s face. “Can Remy tell y’ somethin’… personal?” He breathed on her sensitive skin; Rogue did her best to repress a shudder.

“Like you don’t already do that whenever we talk.” Rogue said, trying to sound calm. Dear God, if he so much as breathes on me, I think I might lose it and rip his pants off…She thought. I’m beyond the point of caring whether it kills him or not.

If it was possible, Remy got closer to her without touching her skin. But it was close enough to make her incredibly uncomfortable. He spoke in a whisper right into her ear. “One of de perks of bein’ a mutant, specifically a mutant male, is dat it takes very little
time for our bodies to be up for another go.”

Rogue looked at him with wide eyes. “Another go at what?”

Remy just grinned at her. Rogue made a scoffing noise in her throat and turned away from him again. Remy leaned in close to her again and whispered, “So y’ see chère, dere were… twelve yesterday?” Remy looked at her inquiringly. “Dat would be about…” He tapped his finger against his chin in mock thought. “Dat would be about two sack sessions for m’… o’ course, wit’ about five to ten minute breaks in between.”

Rogue looked at him with an incredulous look on her face. “Ah hope to God that you’re just bragging.”

Remy smirked at her; their faces were only inches apart. “Chère, y’re hopin’ t’ God dat Remy be tellin’ de truth.”

Rogue tried her best not to show any validity to that statement by looking straight ahead and trying to look mad about… something, anything just so she wouldn’t show what she was really thinking about. She couldn’t help it when her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she felt Remy’s fingers caressing the strands of the white streaked portion of her hair. “Ah thought we agreed we would try doing the friendship thing.” Rogue said, although her voice sounded slightly shakey.

“We are chère… Remy just be a friend who’s tryin’ t’ be more den friends wit’ his friend who happens t’ be a belle fille.” Remy took a strand of her hair that was a part of her whispy bangs and tucked it behind her ear.

Rogue jerked her face away from Remy’s ghost touch and didn’t look at him. Why did he insist on tormenting her?

Remy resumed looking through the pile of phone numbers on his lap. After a series of small disgusted sounds as he went through each one, he finally said, “Ah. Here be de keeper.”

Only out of morbid curiosity (or so she had convinced herself) Rogue turned to look at what he was talking about. Remy was holding a flat something very tenderly and was looking at it as though it were a delicate but fantastic treasure.

Rogue snatched whatever he was holding out of his fingers and studied it closer. It was a playing card and he had
written in black cursive on there…

“So you have more than one ‘chère’? Figures.” Rogue tried not to show the faint sign of hurt when she saw that it was the Queen of Hearts. “So who is this ‘keeper’? Is she the one who can do the special thing with her tongue or something?”

“Oh, she’s a real find chère. Truly belle, smart, strong, and a little stubborn. Not de type t’ change for anyone. But she is as sexy as hell, if Remy may say so himself.” Remy said, with a mysterious smirk.

“Really?” Rogue said, in a failed attempt to hide her annoyance. “Her area code says that she lives in Bayville and she’s available at…” Rogue trailed off upon closer inspection of the phone number. She looked at Remy with a confused look and her mouth parted slightly; he just grinned back triumphantly. Finally finding her voice, Rogue looked at him suspiciously (and ignoring the flattered blush staining her cheeks), she asked, “How did you get mah cell number?”

Remy shrugged and said, “Remy have his ways.” With that, he took the card from her motionless fingers and with care slipped the card back in his wallet before pocketing the leather piece. His attention fell back on the assortment of phone numbers that still rested on his lap. “Now what t’ do wit’ dese…”

“Just keep them in case you go back to New Orleans and need to make a booty call or something…” Rogue said, practically grumbling.

“Can’t do dat. Y’ be de only chère Remy got or want, an’ dese women makin’ mah Roguey upset. Dat means dey have t’ go.” Remy looked around the plane and his eyes settled on something on the other side of the aisle. “Chaton?” Remy asked. Kitty turned her head on looked at him curiously. “Do y’ by chance have another one of dose things dat y’ keep y’r lovely hair pulled back wit’?” Kitty giggled and dug into her jeans pocket. She pulled out a hair elastic and leaned across the aisle. Remy leaned over Rogue (who pressed her back into her seat as she blushed furiously) and took the hair band from Kitty. “Merci.”

Rogue raised an eyebrow as she watched Remy wrap the little elastic around the pile of numbers. After making sure that they were all secured together, Remy turned his head and twisted his upper body to look around the plane again. His eyes brightened when he obviously found what he was looking for and a mischievous grin stretched across his incredibly sexy mouth. Remy turned to look at Rogue; Rogue found it hard to keep from drooling at the way his incredible eyes just seemed all that much more vibrant when they were planning to do something naughty or how his perfect male lips seemed born to make that smirk. Rogue came back to reality when she noticed that he had raised the wrapped pile to be eye level with both of them. Her eyes suddenly widened with realization as the bunch began to glow a violent pink and then grow to be a blood red. “Uh oh.”

Rogue made no effort to stop Remy and he peered over the back of his seat and grinned evilly at a certain someone. “Hey Scotty!” Remy called as he flicked the sudden small bomb with a well practiced grace in the direction of the X-leader’s head.

Kurt was presently watching Spirited Away on his portable DVD player; Kitty was presently watching Kurt watch Spirited Away on his portable DVD player. She had no idea what was going on in the movie (as Kurt had headphones on) and she really didn’t care; she was having a fine time with only studying him during this once in a lifetime opportunity. Kurt was distracted and not paying any attention to Kitty (for once) and she could look at him up close without having to turn away from him suddenly when he noticed her looking and then spending the rest of the day embarrassed.

God… his ears are so cute (Legolas has got nothing on Kurt)! Mmm… his smile is great and the one part of him that looks most like a demon (whoever doesn’t think that fangs are cool, was obviously dropped on their head as a baby). Kitty thought to herself. Her eyes traveled to his eyes which were intently watching the screen (she could see the picture reflected on his eyes) and would have probably fallen over had she not already been sitting down. Don’t even get me started on his eyes… they’re so beautiful and so… angelic. Kitty recalled earlier when their hands had briefly touched. The sight looked so ideal to her, with his blue and her porcelain complementing each other perfectly. She shivered slightly at the remembrance of the feeling of his fur against her skin. God, it’s so soft! I think I might be developing a fur fetish.

Something swished near the floor and Kitty’s eyes immediately followed its direction. She could feel her throat go dry as she watched Kurt’s tail swish back and forth absently as he watched his movie. If he knew… just… how friggin’ sexy his tail is, he would never doubt his looks again. She thought, as she gazed longingly at his tail. It was so strong when he wrapped it around her waist yesterday, and almost involuntarily, her mind wandered to what else he could do with that wonderful extra limb…

Kitty held in a gasp when she saw that Kurt’s tail landed right in between the seats that the two friends shared. Kitty bit her lower lip and looked at Kurt; he still seemed immersed in his movie. Should I… no, I shouldn’t… well, maybe he won’t… it will be okay, right?… Her eyes never turning from the profile of Kurt’s face, she slowly raised her hand up to the spade of Kurt’s tail. With very soft fingertips, she barely brushed the tip of the spade. Kurt’s eyes almost immediately bugged out of his skull as a small gasp passed from his lips. His tail twitched and Kitty almost immediately withdrew her hand; she turned her whole body forward, sat on her hands, and looked straight ahead, not daring to look at her friend. Kurt, meanwhile, fumbled to turn off his movie and removed his head phones. He looked at Kitty (who had begun blushing furiously) and had to restrain himself to keep from dropping to his knees and begging her to do that again.

“Um… Kätzchen…” Kurt began slowly.

“Yes, Kurt?” Kitty asked, deciding to play stupid.

“Vhy did you-“

“It was an accident, okay? I didn’t mean to touch it.” Kitty said, very quickly.

“Oh.” Kurt said, the faint disappointment evident in his voice. He contemplated something for a second before continuing. “That’s actually… not vhat I vanted to ask you.”

Kitty looked at him in surprise and confusion. “Then what did you…” She trailed off when he grinned shyly to himself (she was fairly sure that her heart melted just then).

“Vhat I vanted to ask is… vhy… vhy did you stop?” Kurt said, very slowly; he gradually rose his eyes to meet hers and she could see the anxiety in the question that he posed.

This took Kitty back a little bit. “What? You mean, you don’t mind that I’m…”

“Oh, nein!” Kurt said quickly. “After vhat happened yesterday, I vas afraid that you vould never speak to me again, let alone touch me.” Kurt looked down quickly.

Kitty was amazed. Kurt had thought that she would never want to touch him again? That was absurd to her. She shook her head at the thought, and reached out and took Kurt’s hand. Kurt looked at her, and was surprised at the honesty and firmness in her face. “Kurt, don’t you ever doubt for a second that I would not want you near me just because of some stupid things that may happen to us.”

Kurt peered at their joined hands again; she didn’t seem to care that they were touching. He looked back at her face and smiled at the sincerity that it held. He didn’t even realize that his tail had begun swishing at her torso in impatience for wanting to feel her touch again. He only noticed it when she looked down at his tail and then back up at him. He grinned shyly at her.

Kitty smiled and felt only a slight pink taint her cheeks. Without saying another word, she ran her fingers over the spade again. Kurt softly shut his eyes in pleasure and contentment and leaned back in his seat. Kitty grinned to herself at how relaxed this made him. She began to firmly rub the spade between her fingers, and laughed inwardly when she heard him purr. This must be like a mini-massage for him, she thought with glee. She was happy to say the least; she got to touch his incredibly sexy tail, and he didn’t mind it one bit.

Kitty couldn’t hold back a giggle when the length just preceding his tip coiled around her wrist as she continued to rub his spade. She eventually leaned back in her own seat, but her hand never stopped caressing his tail and he never bothered removing his tail from her hand for the remainder of the trip. Both of them were perfectly comfortable, and Kurt wasn’t going to stop her if she was willing to go through the trouble…

The jet landed in a valley a few hours later. The sun was not quite in the middle of the sky, the clouds were sparse, and the breeze was gentle. The X-Jet landed softly on the masses of green grass that danced lightly in the direction of the wind. The turbulence that had been assaulting the plane for a while had finally let up by the time they made their final approach into the valley. More than a few students had turned green from the onslaught of the constant motion that burdened the jet and all of them were only too eager to get out of there.

The multiple clicks of seat belts coming undone filled the air as Logan turned off the engine. Almost every student stood and rushed towards the exit. Logan did not look happy as he took in the sight of all the students clamoring to get off the plane.

“Hey!” All students shut up and turned to face Logan. “Act like you’ve been on a plane before and get off single file before I fly you to the top of the mountain and leave you there!” You could hear some of the students audibly gulp.

“Would he really do that?” Jamie whispered nervously to Rahne.

“What? Leave us to fend for ourselves in the untamable wilderness with only our wits as our means of survival?” Rahne said a little too casually. “Of course he wouldn’t. It would be inhuman and it would supremely suck.”

With some reluctance, Logan opened the door of the jet. Before any student could rush out he yelled back, “Single file and don’t forget your stuff!”

It took a little longer than usual for the students to exit the plane. Though when they did finally get off the jet, more than a few of them dropped to their knees, kissed the ground with a loud declaration of “LAND!!!” Scott and Jean stood to the side of the door bidding each student farewell as they made their way off (Remy paused to look at the black marks on Scott’s face and the slightly charred ends of his hair. After Scott’s positively seething look at Remy’s exiting back, Remy laughed quietly and wickedly to himself.)

After all of the students and teachers stood in a group on the ground, Jean and Scott gave them a final goodbye (and one last heated glance at Remy) and set off back towards the mansion in the jet.

“Ya see that?” Logan said to all of them pointing at the departing jet. “That’s your only way off of this mountain. That jet ain’t comin’ back ‘til I say you’re ready to go back. And we got a whole three months before any of you will be missed.” Logan was pleased at the amount of whimpers that he got from stating this.

“Now Ms. Munroe and Mr. McCoy will be helping you kids set up the campsite. In the meantime,” Logan unsheathed his claws. “I’m gonna go scrounge us up some food.” And with that, Logan bounded off into the forest that surrounded the valley.

More than a few kids were slightly shocked at the idea of Logan bringing back something dead for them to eat. “He’s not going to make us eat anything raw, is he?” Roberto asked slowly.

“Nonsense. I have a positively delightful recipe for venison.” Hank said with a grin. A few of the students’ shoulders slumped in relief.

“But what about the people who are vegetarians?” Kitty asked, looking worried.

“And what about the people who are on Atkins?” Amara asked, looking annoyed.

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Ororo said kindly. She clapped her hands together to draw all the students’ attention. “All right, there will be two people to a tent. Girls will be situated on the left,” Ororo indicated the proper space of the valley, “And boys will be on the right.”

Remy raised his hand. “Where will de men be placed?” That earned quite a few sniggers from the kids.

“Right alongside the boys, Mr. LeBeau.” Ororo answered firmly (It shut all of them up), and continued. “The area right in between
the two will serve as… *ahem* the facilities for both sexes.”

“Do you need a cough drop?” Jamie asked curiously.

“No, thank you Jamie.” Ororo continued. “Now there will be no more than two to a tent and under no circumstances will there be a co-ed tent.”

“Oh come on. One or two co-ed tents won’t get everyone knocked up.” Matilda said (though no one really heard her). She sat in a distant tree, observing the scene from afar. She was sporting full camo gear complete with impressive camo face paint (“Even if that Professor does sense me, he won’t be able to see me! *maniacal cackle* It’s brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, I tell you! Genius, I say!”). Matilda looked back through her Army issued binoculars at the group of mutants. She got an uncomfortably detailed close up of finger picking a nose. After making a disgusted face, she panned up and saw that it was only Ray. She turned her head to the left until she caught glimpse of Kitty’s head.

“All right, everyone grab a partner, spin em’ round, and do-se-do yourselves a tent!” Mr. McCoy said with a warm grin.
Everyone grumbled and paired off. Each student walked to the collective pile of luggage that contained their tents and personal belongings.

Kitty turned her head and looked at Rogue. “Do you want to be my roomie, roomie?”

Rogue rolled her eyes at Kitty’s sugary cuteness. “Whatever.” The two of them set off to grab a tent.

“Hmm.” Matilda said, still peering through her binoculars. “With that Professor so close I can’t suggest too much to them specifically without him revealing my presence here. He’s probably going to be monitoring those four very closely after what happened yesterday.” Matilda furrowed her eyebrows and stroked her invisible chin beard. “Well… if I can’t get through to them presently, I need to get them away from this as soon as possible and that’s kind of hard to do with an incredibly powerful telepath around…”

Matilda heard some rustling behind her. She looked behind her and down and saw a decent sized buck standing in the distance. Not far from it, and very well hidden, was Logan obviously on the hunt. Matilda cocked her head and studied Logan. She stroked her chin in thought; a smirk formed on her lips after a few moments in silence. “Hmm… maybe I don’t have to speak to my subjects directly to get them alone… I mean, that Professor won’t be in everybody’s thoughts at once, will he?” Matilda shimmied down the tree and then vanished, to do God knows what.

It could be described as an orderly chaos, the campsite. Everyone from the large group had formed into several smaller groups and had themselves about doing various tasks. Most people were working on getting their tents set up while others were setting up basic utilities for the camp. Rogue and Kitty were working on putting up their tent. They were at the farthest end of the row of the girls’ tents on the left; either subconsciously or intentionally, it happened to work out that they were the most distant from all the other girls.

“Hey Rogue?” Kitty asked, staring at the pamphlet of tent instructions. “Is there a pole thingy that looks like a cross between a wishbone and a llama?”

“Huh?”

Kitty pushed the instruction manual about three inches from Rogue’s face. “That.” She said, pointing to a diagram that the manufacturer had drawn out.

“Oh.” Rogue held up one of the poles that did not remotely resemble a cross between a wishbone and a llama but was a perfect match to the one in the book. “You mean this?”

“Yes. Hi Mr. Llama-Wishbone.” Kitty said, holding up the pole to her eyes.

Rogue rolled her eyes and resumed untangling the fabric of the tent from its packaging.

Kitty studied Rogue contemplatively for a moment. “Hey Rogue?” Rogue replied with an acknowledging sound in her throat. “Are you like mad at me or something?”

Rogue didn’t look at Kitty but she paused briefly what she was doing. “What would make you say that?”

“Well you’re not really talking to me so I was just wondering if I did something that like made you angry with me or something.”

Rogue looked up at Kitty from her squatting position. Seeing the questioning expression on Kitty’s face made Rogue feel guilty for giving her friend the cold shoulder. Rogue’s eyes looked past Kitty to the right side of the campsite. Towards the middle, Remy and Piotr were setting up their own tent. Remy was connecting two poles together when his eyes connected with Rogue’s. He grinned at her and winked before Rogue looked away blushing.

Kitty saw this entire exchange. She looked at Rogue; she had ducked her head and was working with a renewed fervor on their tent. “Oh.” Kitty raised her eyebrows in surprise and acknowledgement. “Oh! You saw me talking to Remy today and thought…” A grin stretched its way across Kitty’s features. Rogue didn’t say anything; she kept her head bowed but her face continued to grow redder. Kitty crouched down to Rogue’s level. “Rogue you have like nothing to worry about. There is absolutely nothing going on between me and Remy.”

Rogue’s eyes widened at Kitty’s words. She looked up at her blue eyed friend and tried to look offended through her blush. “Kitty, Ah didn’t say Ah was mad at you and Ah certainly wouldn’t be mad at you over someone like Remy! By the way, Ah wouldn’t even care if there was something going on between you and Remy. If yal are happy together, all the power to you, Ah have no vested interest in him!” Kitty arched an eyebrow at Rogue’s incredibly overzealous outburst. Rogue began to reluctantly look sheepish under her friend’s gaze. “Okay, maybe Ah have a slight vested interest in him.”

“Mmm hmm. Slight.” Kitty said, with a knowing smirk. Rogue immediately resumed assembling their tent. Kitty leaned in somewhat closer to Rogue and said to her in practically a whisper. “Just so you know, we were talking about you.” Then she stood and went over to retrieve the main component of their tent.

Rogue stared at Kitty as she turned away from her. It was when her back was turned did Rogue let a small, mysterious
smile play across her lips.

“This close… I was this close to nailing Tabitha, I swear.” Ray said, indicating with his fingers.

“What guy isn’t this close to nailing Tabitha?” Sam replied with a snort.

“Yeah, not impressed Ray.” Bobby said, stretching his legs and propping them up on a log that was across from the rock he was sitting on. “Now if you bagged someone a little less easier to persuade like Amara or something, I might give you props.”

“Oh please, the princess? Like any guy would want to try to thaw that fish.” Ray said with a huff.

“I think a good pounding might loosen her up, if you know what I mean.” Roberto said, making a suggestive motion with his hips.

“Besides, Tabitha’s had more guys inside her than the Statue of Liberty. No challenge there.” Bobby said, and then he directed his eyesight towards the opposite end of the camp. He thoughtfully stared at two particular girls. “Now Rogue, on the other hand, is a different story.”

“Oh come, she’s like the hope diamond: nice to look at but deadly to touch.” Sam said shaking his head.

“Man, she is nothing but a tragedy. The fact that her face and her body can never be touched…” Bobby shook his head at the thought. “Oh the things I could do with that.” He then cocked his head thoughtfully at the other girl that stood with
Rogue. “Although, the little kitty cat ain’t so bad herself.”

“And the fact that she can be a little harem girl is pretty fuckin’ hot.” Roberto nodded in agreement.

“I couldn’t agree with you more. In fact, I think getting a good fucking from Mr. Freeze himself would be a good thing for Ms. Pussy Pryde-“ *WHACK* “OW! What-?” *SLAM* “OW!”

Kurt feigned surprise as he looked behind him at Bobby. “Oh I am sorry, Bobby! I did not even see you there! I really should be more careful vith these things, ja?” He said, patting the three long poles for his tent that he had propped on his left shoulder that he had used to hit Bobby in the head twice.

“Kurt, aren’t you and Jamie at the other end of the row?” Sam asked cautiously.

“Ja, I am.” Kurt replied, unashamedly. “So Bobby… vhat exactly vere you saying about mein schwester?” He asked, with an underlying threat in his voice.

Bobby looked at Kurt, tenderly rubbing his own head, with some fear in his eyes. “I was saying… I was saying what a lovely girl she is.”

“Hmm. And vhat vere you saying about Keety?” Kurt asked, the threat being slightly more prominent in his voice.
Bobby audibly gulped; only he could see the danger that lurked behind Kurt’s eyes at that moment. “Nothing. I didn’t say anything at all about Kitty.”

“Good.” Kurt cast a cautionary (yet threatening) glance to all four of the boys who sat in that circle. “Keep it that vay.” And he teleported with a *BAMF* and left them sitting there.

“Geez, you can’t say anything without offending anyone anymore.” Roberto said, slightly amazed at Kurt’s actions.

“I know. I guess you’re back to fantasizing about Rogue again, huh Bobby?”

“It’s not that bad, Sam. I mean, if I’m going to jack off to something I can’t think of anything better than Rogue and Rogue’s rack and-“ *SLAP* “OW! Who-“

“Remy hear you say one more thing about dat girl and any parts of her out of y’ again, den he gonna kill y’, y’ understand?” Remy said, ignoring the fact that Bobby was tenderly rubbing his head where Remy had slapped it. Remy cast him another death glare when Bobby didn’t respond.

“Yeah, yeah I understand.” Remy cast him a single nod and turned and walked away.

“I guess Tabitha’s not looking too bad now, is she?” Ray asked, with a smirk on his mouth.

“Shut up Ray.” Bobby said bitterly, still rubbing his sore head.

Logan carried a four point buck over his shoulder as he traipsed back through the small forest surrounding the valley. The limp, lifeless creature bounced a little against his back with each step he took. He stopped suddenly; he took a harsh intake of breath through his nostrils. There was something there; he could smell it in the air. A presence was floating on the wind down from one of the mountains that was at the south end of the valley. Logan looked behind him and narrowed his eyes at the tall mountain that was one of several that surrounded them. He narrowed his eyes and let out a low growl. There was something on that mountain that didn’t feel right… it felt almost… evil…

“So that’s where Hirane has set up shop.” Matilda said, as she poked her head out from behind the tree that she was standing. She looked up at the mountain that had Logan’s attention. “He’s closer than I thought he would be. I wonder how much time he’s had to grow strong…”

“Chuck!” Logan called out to the Professor, who was sitting in his wheel chair at the edge of the forest watching the children set up the camp.

“Logan…” Professor Xavier’s eyes traveled to the carcass of the dead deer. “I see that you brought us back something to eat.” He said, trying to hide his obvious queasiness through a smile.

“Don’t worry, I’ll fix it later in a spot where the kids won’t see.” Logan looked around suspiciously at the woods as though something might leap out suddenly. “Chuck, I don’t know if you know this already but we ain’t alone around here.”

“Yes, it seems that there is more than one presence that tinges the air. One of them, continues to go unexplained in its desires.” Charles looked beyond Logan at the trees and darted his eyes back and forth for a few minutes (Matilda ducked behind a tree again) before returning his attention to Logan. “But the other, it seems, has left more of a calling card.”

The Professor pulled a folded up piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Logan. “What’s this?” Logan asked as he unfolded the paper and read its contents.

“That is a warning flyer that a ranger dropped off while you were gone. It seems that over the past month or so there have been several unexplained disappearances in this area. Hikers, campers, some families have all disappeared from this group of mountains without leaving so much as a trace. They actually sent out a search team, but even a few of their workers who were on foot disappeared themselves. The rangers’ station has already closed off several parts of the forest and the river completely to rafters. So far, no bodies have been found.”

“I only got one word for that: weird.” Logan looked as though he were thinking for a moment. “Well, actually I got two words for that: weird and creepy.”

“Yes, my sentiments exactly. The ranger said that they are actually quite close to shutting down the park completely for an indeterminable amount of time.” The Professor said, casting a worried glance around his surroundings.

“Well, whatever it is, I can tell you right now that the source of it all is on that mountain right there.” Logan said, pointing at the southern peak. “The smell comin’ off of that wind from there…” Logan shook his head disgustedly. “Reeks of death.”

The Professor nodded knowingly; he steepled his fingers under his chin thoughtfully. “I wonder if the presence that I have been feeling lately is somehow connected to this…”

“Not exactly connected, but I can see where he’s going with that.” Matilda said, thoughtfully looking at the blue sky through the canopy of trees.

“Think we should look into it?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

The Professor took a breath in before answering. “No. It’s best not to try and put our nose in something that is probably just a crazed lunatic terrorizing innocent people. At least, not with the children here. If you were alone, it would be a different story but almost all the students are present and I don’t want to take any chances with them in such a great number. I have faith that the authorities will figure this out one way or another. But we should be prepared that this may cut our trip short to some extent.”

“Right. In the meantime, I’ll keep the kids as far away as possible from that mountain.” Logan said, handing back the flyer to the Professor.

“Yes, it’s best not to let them know about this. It might start some kind of panic.” The Professor folded the flyer again and placed it gently at his side. “Or one or more of the students might get the bright idea to investigate the recent happenings thus putting themselves in great danger.” Both men began to make their way back to the campsite.

“We both know that some of them definitely have it in them. Besides, it might get these kids on a damned urban legend kick. The last thing I need is these kids confusing survival training with a camping trip.” Logan said with a most disgusted look on his face.

“It’s not Logan?”

“You will not see a smore or hear a campfire story under my watch Chuck.” The Professor would have laughed, but he knew Logan was being serious.

When both men’s backs were turned, our favorite little love spirit snuck up behind them and stole the flyer from the Professor’s wheel chair. “God this sucks!” She exclaimed as she stepped further away from them, unfolding the flyer. “I have to act like a common mortal because of him and his ability to somehow sense me. I hate having to do this damn sneaking around bit! The sooner I get my people away from all of this, the bet… ter…”
Matilda trailed off as she got a good look at the flyer. It had collected pictures of all the people who had gone missing in these mountains. She knew that Hirane would be killing but what surprised her was how many he had managed to kill already. According to the flyer, quite a few. In fact, a lot.

Matilda ghosted her hand over the smiling faces that stared at her from the paper. They were all pictures sent in by the family and friends of the missing, so of course they were pictures during the happy times of these peoples’ lives. Pictures taken at parties for a few, on vacation for others, and even a few high school year book pictures of three young boys. All of them were smiling, and Matilda felt sad that these pictures were not accurate of what these people looked like before they were killed. She knew none of these people were smiling in their last moments of life. She actually knew for a fact that they were all probably in agony. At the bottom of the paper, her hand stopped at the picture of a smiling family. A mom and dad and two cute little boys, both that couldn’t have been older than nine. What struck her about this picture though was what the mother was holding in her arms. Her fingers lightly traced the face of the baby that couldn’t have been more than a few months old. Matilda’s face clouded over with sadness. She was only capable of saying one thing at that moment. “Hirane… you monster… what have you done?...” Matilda vanished suddenly, letting the flyer float discarded to the ground. She had much to think about.

Only a few moments later did these actions of Matilda have repercussions. Jamie was running away from Rahne who was in her wolf form. “Come on Rahne, give me a little more slack before you catch me!” Jamie laughed. Rahne clearly did not listen to him, as a second later she pounced on him and pressed him to the forest ground with her great big wolf paws. “Okay, okay, you win! Uncle! Just don’t start licking me!”

“Oh please!” Rahne exclaimed, changing back into her human form, so she was straddling a much smaller Jamie in what was for once a purely non-sexual manner. “That would be like licking my little brother, so no thank you!” She rolled off of him and
collapsed on the floor of the forest to pant.

“You think of me as your little brother?” Jamie asked, propping his head on his palm to look at her.

“Well you are five years younger than me so that makes you fit the little brother role quite well actually-“ Rahne stopped suddenly when she spied something on the ground beside her head. “What’s this?” She asked herself, grabbing the piece of paper and skimming her eyes over it.

“We haven’t been here a day and already people are littering. Just what is happening to the moral ethics of the X-Men that I was once so proud of-“

“Jamie… shut up and look at this.” Rahne said firmly, and then pushing the paper in front of his face. Together they read the contents of the flyer again before looking at each worriedly.

“Okay, who wants a Bambi burger?” Doctor McCoy said, presenting the first venison sandwich to the small assembly in front of the fire that Amara had helped start. Dusk was painting the sky a beautiful shade of orange and red, but due to the mountains that surrounded them, the setting sun was not visible. Almost all of the students had a look on their faces that was a mixture of horror and disgust at the idea of eating anything with the word “Bambi” in it. Sam was the first one to step up, as this would not be the first time that he had tried venison. Very hesitantly, a line formed behind Sam that included all the students save a few.

“Ah think it’s just something everyone’s telling each other to give it that eerie atmosphere. You know, it’s like back at summer camp whenever someone would start the rumor that there’s a crazed psycho serial killer that just escaped from the mental institution and he’s been sighted in the woods or something.” Rogue said, folding her arms across her chest. She, Remy, Piotr, Kitty, Kurt, Ray, and Tabby stood towards the edge of the right row of tents close to the forest.

“Yeah, but Rahne told Roberto who told Alex who told Warren who told me that the rangers have been on an alert for like the past month.” Tabby said, inspecting her hot pink painted nails.

“Why have the Professor or Logan not said anything?” Piotr wondered aloud.

“They probably didn’t want anyone to panic…” Ray said, and then paused, considering his own words. “Good luck.”

“And knowing the kids around here, someone would be stupid enough to pull a Scooby and investigate.” Rogue said, rolling her eyes.

“Right! Like I would want to get lost in the woods just to have someone go Blair Witch on my ass.” Tabby said, sounding almost on the verge of sarcastic laughter. “Please. I don’t think any kid here would even be that suicidal.”

“Ah wouldn’t put it past them…” Rogue said, shaking her head.

“Why are the X-Men not looking into this?” Piotr said, with that familiar hero’s light shining in his eyes.

“Case in point…” Rogue said, smirking.

Remy looked around at his surroundings as if searching for something. “Don’t see Mags, Apocalypse, on any anti-mutant protestors ‘round here. Derefore, Remy see no reason fo’ de X-Men t’ get involved.”

“We are staying in the same park, are we not? People are in danger and we have the ability to help. It is only logical that we do everything in our power to help.”

“But Piotr, this is something that ve have no experience vith. I know it is hard to believe, but the Professor vould probably feel more comfortable vith us going into battle against Apocalypse or the Brotherhood then vhat is likely to be a psychotic serial killer vho sews human skins together and then vears them as a coat.” Kurt said. Everyone was looking at him with their mouths slightly hanging open and their eyebrows furrowed.

“And that is the last time you’re watching Silence of the Lambs.” Rogue said, shaking her head.

“Da, I am not even sure that I will be able to sleep here with that thought in my mind.” Piotr said, without a hint of humor in his voice.

“Remy think what Bleu is trying t’ say is dat we should let de local authorities handle it, since it be dere problem.” Remy said, stepping forward from the tree that he had been casually leaning on. Remy did not think much of it when Kurt offered no response. “’Sides, what makes yal think dat dis psycho be skinin’ people? It be much more likely dat we be dealin’ wit’ a cannibal, dey’re more common.”

“Remy, you could have just stopped before that.” Rogue said, shaking her head as though she was trying to get the idea of eating human flesh out of her brain (then again, aren’t we all?). “We’re about to go eat what used to be one of God’s creatures, Ah don’t need the idea of eating people to follow me every time Ah try to eat meat from now on.”

“But I don’t know what the problem is. Like anyone would try to skin or eat a group this big.” Tabitha said, rolling her neck. “I mean, as long as we all stick together, or no one wanders off, or gets separated from the rest of us we should be fine.”

“Or he could be torturing people.” Ray said, quite randomly and in a disturbingly calm manner. All of his companions gave him a strange look. “Hey, it’s possible! The psycho could be torturing people by raping the women and then gutting all his victims while they’re still alive and then finally killing them by hanging them from the tall tree branches.”
All of Ray’s compatriots stared at the boy. “Ah’m not sure whether to be impressed with your imagination or to run away screaming.” Rogue said.

Ray narrowed his eyes at Rogue. “Ray come on. That sort of thing only happens in the movies.” Tabitha said, shaking her head. “He’s probably burying people alive and tape recording the sounds of their screams as they slowly die.” Everyone looked at Tabitha incredulously. “What? That’s way more likely to happen than people being gutted on a branch!”
“Tabitha…” Kurt said, with a soft urgency as he looked at Kitty.

“Nuh-uh. He probably dismembered their arms and legs from their bodies and then let the wolves eat the torso while he kept the heads!”

“Ray…” Kurt said sharply through his gritted teeth.

“Y’ know, it is a possibility dat he could be breakin’ every bone in dere bodies and then foldin’ people up like a dress and puttin’ dem in a box.”

“Remy!” Kurt finally had their attention. Rogue and Piotr had grimaced looks on their faces from the very unwanted mental images that resulted from this conversation, but they didn’t hold a candle to how Kitty was faring. The poor girl was shaking so much that it was barely visible, her face was as white as a sheet, her eyes had widened substantially and were darting around fearfully at their surroundings, and she had her arms wrapped around herself protectively. Kurt looked sympathetically at Kitty and spoke again. “Can ve change the subject? That kind of talk around here vould make Logan jumpy.”

“Uh-huh, right Blue.” Tabitha said with a smirk. Her eyes fell on Kitty holding a slightly evil glint. “I wouldn’t be too scared Kitty Kat. After all, you’ve got Kurt here to protect you.” She and Ray both laughed aloud. Kitty cast her eyes down towards the ground
as that all to familiar pink spread across her face.

Kurt looked at the two students angrily before looking at Kitty. His gaze softened almost instantly and when he looked back at Tabby and Ray, he was genuinely smiling. “That’s right.” He said, as Kitty looked at him curiously. “I vill be here to protect her.” Kurt smiled at Kitty and put an arm around her shoulders. “Just as she is here to protect me.” Kitty smiled warmly back at her friend.

Tabby scoffed, crossed her arms, and looked away snobbishly (only because she couldn’t think of something to say to that). Ray scratched his crazy colored hair awkwardly. Rogue and Remy smirked at the two; Piotr remained stoic. “Well, Ah don’t know about yal, but Ah think that there’s a Bambi burger at that fire with mah name on it.”

“Could we not call them that comrades?” Piotr asked, sounding like a wounded puppy.

Remy leaned in close to Rogue (he gripped her arm lightly so she wouldn’t pull away) and whispered in her ear, “He has dis soft spot fo’ Disney movies.” Rogue couldn’t help it; she giggled causing Piotr to look back at her with the knowledge that they were
saying something about him.

“Vant to go grab some venison? It’s delicious!” Kurt said with a grin to Kitty (his arm still draped over her shoulders).

“Actually, it will be a bowl of trail mix for me.” Kitty smiled as Kurt kept his arm around her as they walked back towards the fire. Kitty cast one last worried glance towards the forest. “Hey Kurt…” Kurt looked at her with expectant eyebrows raised. “You don’t think we’re in danger here, do you?”

Kurt grinned reassuringly at his friend. “Of course not Kätzchen. As long as ve stay in the valley, ve should be fine.” Kitty seemed satisfied with this answer and savored the feeling of Kurt’s strong arm touching her. They continued back to the campsite looking forward to eating some venison and trail mix.

Tabitha and Ray stared at the elf and the cat’s retreating backs. They both then looked at the forest that held so many secrets in the depths of trees that grew. “There’s nothing to worry about, right? I mean, Kitty was just being… Kitty.” Tabitha said after a minute of looking suspiciously at the darkness that lurked between the great trees.

“Right. She was just being a fraidy cat.” Ray said, smiling at his own pun (and also to fake his sense of security).

They had just begun walking back towards everyone else when they heard a rustle in the bushes. Slowly they turned back to the forest with wide, surprised eyes.

“What was that?” Tabitha whispered to Ray.

They waited a second longer. The forest was still once again. “Probably just a woodland animal or something. They do live in this area you know-“

The sound of a stick snapping cut Ray off mid-sentence. They both snapped their heads back towards the forest looking a little less smug, and a little more scared. They waited a second for any more noises. And another second. And another. And another.
They both let out the breath that they did not realize they had both been holding. They probably would have laughed… had they not heard breathing coming from somewhere in the forest. And this wasn’t just any old breathing… this was very heavy, very raspy, very evil sounding breathing. Being in the forest, no one can ever tell exactly where the source of sounds are, but this breathing sounded too close for comfort.

With their eyes so wide that they nearly occupied half of their face, Tabitha and Ray looked terrified at each other before they darted as fast as humanly possible back to the safety of their numbers. Even if they had stuck around for a second longer, they still would not have seen a small figure fall out of her perch on the tree onto the forest floor, unable to even stand as she clutched her sides in an unending wave of laughter.

“Oh… I’m bad…” Matilda said, as she wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up slightly. She was on her side and rested her head in her palm, still containing the chuckles at the remembrance of those kids’ faces. “Oh… maybe I should give up the love spirit gig, and try my hand at being the spirit who scares the crap out of teenagers so that they won’t have premarital sex.” Matilda smirked at the sky as the first stars appeared in the still blue sky. “But that wouldn’t be as fun as encouraging under age kids to have premarital sex. Plus, that would put Hugh out of a job.”

Matilda heard a bout of laughter over at the campfire. “I guess the two freaked out kids have returned to their audience. Serves them right for making fun of poor Kitty for being scared.” Matilda’s smile quickly turned to a frown. “I wish that it was true about them being safe in this valley, but the truth is…” Matilda sat up fully and looked at the southern mountain. That horrible mountain that she knew she had to lead those four kids towards. “That Professor is a smart man for desiring to keep the students out of Hirane’s path. As powerful a telepath he is, even he can’t see how dangerous Hirane is. From what Felix told me and what those mortal rangers know, Hirane has been feeding for about a month and it seems that he has already consumed quite a few victims. It won’t be long before his roots reach this very valley. And if he gets beyond the valley, then all of human kind will be nothing more than fertilizer to him. And I’m going to lead four innocent people straight into his clutches… that is if I want to keep my word to Felix.” Matilda sighed as she looked back towards the campfire. “I always keep my word. Love is about trust and faith and promises, and I am love incarnate. If I don’t keep my promises, then I’m nothing more than a fucking hypocrite.” Her dark eyes focused on her four subjects. “Maybe I’m not giving them enough credit. They’re all four strong and smart. I have faith that they will be able to handle Hirane.” Matilda affirmed, mostly to herself. “Besides, I have to get them alone for a couple of days if I want them to get together.”

Matilda looked back at the campsite where everyone was huddling around as the air grew somewhat colder. “They won’t be staying up much longer. The Professor wouldn’t want them wandering around in the dark. I could actually get some work done tonight if he weren’t watching them like a hawk. But it doesn’t matter much I suppose. If that Logan guy listens to my suggestion about taking them up one of the mountains for a hike tomorrow, then I should be able to get them alone and at my mercy soon enough. But in the meantime…” Matilda looked over to her girls’ tent. “Time to be naughty…” And she quickly crawled over to the tent, army style, with her camo gear and the cover of the impending darkness shielding her from unwanted eyes.

“Rassa… frassa… wilderness ways…” Rogue mumbled to herself as she stumbled out of her tent. Holding her toiletries in her arms, she stalked grumpily over to the edge of valley where their “facilities” were supposed to be and hoped to God that no one was squatting in the bushes at that moment. It was the lightest point in the night and it wasn’t completely dark yet. The Professor (as a safety precaution) had said that if anyone had to leave their tent after nightfall, they would have to have someone with them. That time had not yet come, so Rogue saw no danger in brushing her teeth by herself. But what an ordeal it was to actually brush her teeth!

Rogue opened one of Kitty’s bottles of Aquafina (she hoped her roommate wouldn’t notice one shy) and poured a small amount of the water over the bristles of her toothbrush. She secured the cap back on the bottle and set it on the ground, before pushing out a small amount of toothpaste onto her toothbrush. And then she began to scrub, scrub, scrub. Ahh, minty goodness... with the distant stench of cigarette smoke wafting itself through her nostrils very suddenly.

What the… Rogue thought as she turned in the direction of what she believed was the source of the smell. She really should have figured out who in their right mind would be smoking in the middle of a forest. In Remy’s defense though, he had never really paid attention to those Smoky the Bear commercials as a child.

“Are you insane?” Rogue said to Remy as he held a cigarette between his lips and lit up with a card decorated zippo lighter (although with a toothbrush in her mouth it sounded more like “Mmph mmph mmmmph?”). He stood not too far away from her, clad in his trench coat. He took a drag from his cigarette before exhaling through his nostrils.

“Now, all Remy heard was…” Remy then did a dead on impersonation of the teacher from the Charlie Brown shows… and then took another drag from his cigarette.

Rogue rolled her eyes and spit out her toothpaste. “Ah said, ‘are you insane’?”

“Born an’ bred.” Remy said, with a happy grin.

“Ah’m serious! Smokin’ out in the middle of a forest? Not only are you killin’ yourself, but you’re also pollutin’ the air that the rest of us have to breathe.”

“If de next thing y’ say is ‘de power is yours’, den y’ need more help den Remy thought chèrie.”
Rogue glared at Remy and he gave her a smile that should have won a prize. “Actually, the next thing Ah was going to say is that ‘only you can prevent forest fires’.” To say the least, Rogue was thrown off by Remy’s confused expression. “If you toss that butt down, it will most likely set fire to the forest and to the camp itself, thus killing us all. Haven’t you ever seen Smoky the Bear?”

“Can’t say dat Remy ever paid too much attention to dose commercials.” (See? Told you so). Remy finished his cigarette and Rogue believed that he was about to flick it away, but instead he surprised her by pulling a little plastic baggie out of his pocket and disposing the butt in there. Remy looked up and Rogue’s pleasantly surprised face. “See chère? Remy care about de environment too, Linka.”

Rogue allowed a humored grin to spread across her face. “The fact that you even know about that show just shows how old you are.” A very odd thought crossed Rogue’s mind as she said this. Am I flirting with the Swamp Rat?

“De fact dat y’ know what show Remy’s talkin’ about, says how old you are.” Remy teased back. Is Rogue… the beautiful, untouchable, hard-as-nails Rogue… flirting with me?

“Oh don’t even go there.” Rogue crossed her arms and looked away from him and he came closer to her. “Besides, Ah was more of a Gi person mahself.”

Remy chuckled at her joke as he stood just a few inches in front of her. His grin faded as he got a good look at her. She had washed her day’s makeup off and her skin looked radiant and her eyes looked larger. Her medium length hair was pulled into a loose top knot on the top of her scalp and her silvery, wispy, white bangs framed her face. She was wearing a loose fitting pair of forest green, satin pajama pants and a long sleeved, white shirt hung loosely on her body. He noted that she was not wearing a pair of gloves that night. Remy was amazed that she still looked absolutely beautiful even when she went to sleep.

Rogue looked confused when Remy did not say anything for a few moments. She raised her eyebrows and her lips parted slightly. It was the parting of her lips that captivated Remy’s attention. His red and black eyes stared at them for God knows how long. That night they were devoid of that thick, awful, purple lipstick that Rogue insisted on wearing every friggin’ day, so at that moment they were their natural shade of deep pink. They had a beautiful and natural fullness, and looked so incredibly soft.
Remy had to admit, besides his infatuation with Rogue’s eyes, next would have to come her lips (actually he admired all of her quite equally). And when Remy LeBeau saw a beautiful pair of lips, he knew that there was only one thing to do to them…

“What?” Rogue said after a few moments of silence. “Did Ah say somethin’ the Ragin’ Cajun didn’t like?” Okay, that was definitely flirting with him, she thought.

“Non.” Remy said, dazedly shaking his head. “Remy just… tryin’ t’ figure out… why he can’t stop starin’ at y’r lips.”

Any smile that Rogue once had was immediately gone. Panic hit her square in the chest as he lightly placed his hands on her sleeved biceps. Oh no, she thought with panic. He’s going to try and kiss me again. And I think… the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. …I think I want him to!

Rogue knew that there wasn’t anything wrong with wanting to kiss Remy. The man had very nice lips himself (people just seem to bypass the lips and go straight for the eyes). Remy’s lips were thin but not too thin; Rogue loved the slight fullness of the middle of his lower lip that seemed more pronounced whenever he smiled. And they were perfectly shaped. And Rogue wanted those lips on her own…

It seemed that her wish was about to come true. Remy’s face began the familiar path of descent towards Rogue’s face. Rogue froze, if not in fright, then in desire. She both wanted and dreaded a kiss from him, for reasons that she could not fully explain to herself in the heat of that moment.

But… I can’t let him kiss me… he would get hurt and I would have to deal with him being another voice in my head… Rogue thought, as her eyes which just a moment ago shimmered lightly with hope and anticipation, now became clouded with sadness and realization. I don’t want that, I want him to be out here, not in my brain…

But Rogue couldn’t just jerk her face away again. She couldn’t face that disappointment in his eyes again. She couldn’t stand for him to see her emptiness again. But she couldn’t move. Why? Because she really wanted him to kiss her…

Think fast Rogue, think fast! She thought.

Remy’s lips were just an inch (not even) away from hers when her own lips curled into an incredibly sexy smirk. Her eyes suddenly glittered with mirth as she looked into his eyes, which just a moment ago had been glazed with lust were now clouded with confusion.

“Chère?”

Rogue arched an eyebrow at him and those full lips grew into a wanton grin. “Now… Ah might have let you kiss meh just now Swamp Rat… but Ah just brushed mah teeth and you just had a cigarette. And quite honestly, Ah don’t want to go to bed smellin’ like an ash tray.” Rogue knew that this time there was no denying it… she was very much flirting with the Swamp Rat. My… how very bold of me…

Remy opened and closed his mouth in frustration, but said nothing. He was about to say something when Rogue turned to leave and briefly- just briefly- her eyes flashed with that unbearably familiar loneliness. “’Night Swamp Rat.” Rogue said, flashing Remy a brief grin as she walked back to her tent.

Remy watched her until he knew she was zipped up safely inside the confines of the tent. He swallowed trying to rid himself of the lump that had formed in his throat. “Remy can’t keep doin’ dis.” He said quietly to himself. He looked at the shadowed outline of her form within the tent as she shut off the lantern that it contained and her shape faded with the rest of the darkness. “An’ she can’t keep doin’ dis to herself.” Remy shook his head. “Not gonna make it through de week without touchin’ her.” He looked up at the moon that had begun showing more brilliantly. His eyes stayed on the sky as though he was making a declaration to God himself. “Somehow… Ah gotta make her feel lo-“ He stopped himself before he said it; he wasn’t ready for that, not yet. “Ah got t’ make her feel somethin’… whether she likes it or not.”

Kitty rolled over once in her sleeping bag to the point where she was on her side. Why was she having such a hard time getting to sleep tonight? Oh right. There’s probably an insane psycho murderer lurking about close-by somewhere. Kitty sighed and laid on her back once more.

Kitty shut her eyes and tried counting sheep. “One *Baah*. Two *Baah*. Three *Ba*-“ Kitty stopped mid-count when the mental sheep was suddenly devoid of fleece, completely skinned, and laying limply on it’s side on the grassy hill that the sheep had been jumping over. A black figure suddenly appeared hunched over the poor sheep. The sheep kicked out limply as Kitty realized that the figure was eating the poor thing alive! The figure suddenly brought it’s head up (still enshrouded in black) and gritted it’s white teeth, that stood out starkly at the darkness. The sheep’s blood was dripping from its mouth and running down its chin…
Kitty’s eyes shot open and she shook her head trying to free herself from that God-awful mental image. Okay, that didn’t work, she thought. She tried to think of what methods had worked for her mother when she was trying to put Kitty to sleep when she was a child. She smiled when she thought of a bed time story.

“Okay, once upon a time, a group of young mutants went into the mountains to learn how to survive in the wild when they were all viciously slaughtered by a madman…” Kitty shut her eyes in frustration; that clearly was not how she wanted that story to go.
What else did her mother do? Of course, a lullaby! “Night, night. Sleep tight. Go to sleep and dream...” She sang softly to herself. “One, two… Freddy’s coming for you…” Kitty winced in frustration. “Dang it! I could kill Rogue for making me watch those stupid scary movies!” Kitty said, softly to herself but not feeling any relief to her frustration. She briefly entertained the thought of masturbating (an orgasm would definitely tire her some) but dropped the idea when she reminded herself that Rogue wasn’t two feet away from her and, honestly, all this fear really didn’t put her in the mood. She crossed her arms and stared sternly at the ceiling of the tent. “I don’t know why I’m freaking myself out. Kurt’s right… as long as we stay in the valley and all together we should be fine! No flesh crazed maniac is going to come down here and stand outside my tent waiting to kill… me…”

Kitty trailed off as her eyes suddenly went wide at the side of the dark outline of a tall figure outside the opening to her tent. She opened her mouth slightly to scream but found that she had lost her voice as the dark figure dropped to its knees in front of her tent. Kitty covered her entire head with her sleeping bag when she heard the figure slowly begin to unzip the entrance. Oh God… I’m going to die! She thought with panic. She clenched her eyes shut and tried to keep quiet as she felt some weight sandwich itself in between her own still form and Rogue’s. She couldn’t help the gasp that came out when she felt a hand at the top of her sleeping bag begin to tug at the fabric.

Kitty flung her arms protectively over her head and pulled her body into the fetal position as she felt her head become free of her only protection. “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”

“Keety?” Kurt asked, not even trying to hide the amusement in his voice.

Kitty’s eyes shot open (this time in fury) and rolled over to look at her laughing (former) best friend. Kitty sat up and slapped Kurt hard in the chest (“Ow!” he exclaimed). “Kurt! How dare you scare me like that!”

Kurt was no longer laughing but was instead rubbing his now sore chest. “Did I really deserve that Kätzchen? It is not my fault that you allow yourself to become scared so easily.”

“Oh please! Kurt, everyone is scared like just a little bit, even if they don’t own up to it.” Kitty eyed him for the first time since his entrance. He was wearing a pair of black pajama pants and a plain white undershirt. “What are you doing in here anyway? The Professor said that no one is allowed out after dark without a buddy.”

Kurt shrugged and stretched out beside her. A grin suddenly encompassed his oddly handsome features and he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Kitty’s forehead. Kitty’s face softened and her eyes looked at him confusedly. “I just vanted to kiss you goodnight.” Kitty suddenly smiled at her friend. It was a really sweet gesture, even though it was most certainly a friend kiss and not the kind of kiss she really wanted.

Kurt’s grin softly faded into a serious expression. Kitty looked confused until Kurt suddenly leaned forward again, this time pressing a kiss at the base of her neck. She shuddered at the sensation of having his lips there. Okay, that didn’t feel like a friend kiss…
Kurt locked eyes with her as he began to unbutton her pink cotton pajama top. Kitty’s eyes only got wider as he gently pushed her onto her back.

“Kurt… what are you…” Kitty panted as he placed another kiss at her newly exposed collar bone.

“I am not done kissing you good night…” He replied, as his hands moved further and further down releasing each button they met.

“What about Rogue, she’s right there…” Kitty trailed off in a gasp when Kurt’s soft furry hand lightly trailed up the strip of exposed skin that now existed between the two parts of Kitty’s top.

“Not a problem.” Kurt said, gesturing in Rogue’s direction with his head. Kitty looked and discovered that Rogue wasn’t even in the tent with them. Any further thoughts of Rogue were quickly banished as Kitty felt Kurt slowly inch apart her top exposing even more skin for his view.

Kitty looked nervously at his face as he fully parted her top leaving her small breasts exposed for his viewing. Kitty inwardly cringed, and shut her eyes not wanting to see his reaction to her “inadequate” chest. She did, however, feel his reaction to her chest as he lightly skimmed his thick, blue fingers over her sensitive peaks. She let out a gasp at his actions and then a soft moan as his lips again pressed themselves to her neck.

Kurt trailed kisses down the length of Kitty’s über sensitive neck as his three fingered hands gently fondled her breasts. He stroked her soft, puffy nipple and when it became a hard, pink little point, he rolled it between his thumb and forefinger. Kitty’s eyes fluttered open as she felt Kurt’s lips move lower to her collar bone again. She couldn’t help trembling as his lips inched closer and closer to the top of the swell of her cleavage.

Kitty clenched her eyes shut as Kurt began placing several soft kisses over both her breasts. When his lips came across a nipple, he closed his lips around it and gently massaged the sensitive peak with his tongue. Kitty breathed in sharply; no man had ever made her feel the things that Kurt was making her feel… hell, no man had touched her in this manner before, ever! But Kitty would be lying if she said that she wasn’t enjoying it.

The thumb of Kurt’s right hand was presently making circles over Kitty’s right nipple while his mouth worked on her left breast. His unoccupied hand was playing with the strands of her hair that had fanned over the top of her sleeping bag. Kitty buried both her hands in his hair that had created a curtain around his face as he bent over her. It was not that she wasn’t having fun or anything of that sort, but this teasing was leaving her in a very frustrated state. As if reading her thoughts, Kurt’s tail began to snake a trail down her torso before the spaded tip disappeared into her lavender cotton panties.

Kitty whimpered as Kurt’s tail immediately went to work. The pointed spade went directly to her clit and wasted no time as it began to rub back and forth furiously. Kitty was in a blissful delirium; Kurt’s tail was rubbing at an incredibly fast pace and the pressure it had applied to her sensitive little bud felt just like one of her fingers. It helped that his tail was unrelenting in its pattern.
Kitty moaned softly and gripped the strands of Kurt’s hair a little harder. “Kurt…” She gasped as she closed her eyes in amazement of the sensations that he was bringing out in her. “Why are you…”

Kurt discontinued his ministrations on her breast; he released her nipple with a soft suckling sound (she moaned slightly in protest) as he raised his head to look at her very flushed face. All the while he spoke, his tail never let up. “I am just trying to get you to relax Keety. This vill help sleep come to you easier.”

Kitty briefly mused whether or not she could persuade Kurt to help her fall asleep every night. Then his mouth began to suck on her right nipple while his hand played with her left breast and she was no longer coherent.

Kurt moved the tip of the spade further down so that it was the flat of his tail that was rubbing Kitty and it was covering more of her sensitive flesh. Kitty moaned loudly (Did anyone hear that? She wondered for a second) and tossed her head back; she was close and Kurt could tell that.

Kitty whimpered and shut her eyes. Unconsciously, she was grinding her hips up to meet his tail as that lovely heat began spreading from her covered heat. Never ceasing the movements of his tail, Kurt removed his mouth from her succulent breasts and moved his body up to be level with her face. He looked down into her sparkling blue eyes; the look in his golden yellow eyes… there was no mistake that it was desire.

Kitty’s eyes shot open as she felt that knot inside her tighten to its breaking point. She began to gasp as that knot suddenly came undone and she arched towards his body like never before. She was right at the peak of the most incredible orgasm of her young life when his mouth began to come closer to her partially parted pink lips. Kitty began to bring her own lips to his and they were coming so close that she could count his eyelashes when-

Not a week had passed before Logan decided it was time for the school to return to the mansion. Apparently the threat of a possible psycho killer sharing their park overshadowed the importance of them learning survival training. Almost every student was happy to be rid of that creepy atmosphere, but a few students were not so relieved.

Rogue had spent the week darting Remy’s advances, which wasn’t unusual for them but towards the end of the trip, Remy seemed… un-Remy like. He seemed so serious around her and less flirtatious. Rogue played with the notion that it must have been something she said or did and replayed almost every encounter they had in her mind, trying to pinpoint what it was that made Remy act so strangely.

The evening they returned to the mansion, all the students sat around the dining room table to have supper as usual. Rogue stole glances in Remy’s direction whenever she knew he was not looking and he seemed to take no notice of her. That’s a switch, she thought, he’s avoiding me now.

The students who did not immediately go upstairs to bed all went into the living room to fight over the TV. Rogue did not feel up to dealing with a large group of rowdy teens but did not feel like going to sleep yet. Hence why she was by herself kitchen standing over the sink, as she had offered to do the dishes for Ororo.

Scrub, scrub, scrub. Rogue peered up from the plate that she was cleaning at nothing in particular… and then she let out a sigh. She found herself doing that quite a bit as of late. She never thought that she would find herself missing the old Remy and his advances, no matter how uncomfortable or sad they made her feel. She let out another sigh before returning her attention to the plate that she had been scrubbing for the past five minutes. Not because it was incredibly dirty (it was actually one of the least filthy ones), but because she kept getting distracted from cleaning the damn thing and forgot that it was already spick and span.
Rogue had just set the plate on top of her “clean” stack and was about to pick up the next one when the door suddenly slammed open on its hinges. She turned quickly to face a very serious looking Remy. His jaw was set and the rest of his face look very strained with emotion.

“Remy?” Rogue asked, wondering what could possibly have him looking so… dangerous at that moment. “Remy, what’s the matter?”

Remy’s eyes traveled up and down the length of Rogue’s form before answering. “Ah can’t do dis anymore Rogue.”

First person… not a good sign. “Can’t do wha-“

“Dis.” He replied, gesturing with his hand at the space between them. “Keepin’ m’ distance. Seein’ y’ sad. J’st watchin’ y’. Ah can’t do it no more.” Remy’s eyes met hers and the mutual desire between them became blatantly obvious. “Ah’m sorry Rogue. But Ah can’t do de friend thing. Ah need y’… and Ah know dat y’ need m’.”

Rogue turned her back towards him and her front towards the counter. Everything he said was true, and Rogue was secretly ecstatic to hear him say that he needed her, but…

Right. Those damn powers of hers. “Remy… just move on. Please? Ah can never give you what you’re asking for and-“ Rogue did not get the chance to finish; she felt the air that was in the space between them close suddenly when she felt Remy quickly come up behind her and roughly grab her shoulders.

Rogue gasped and shuddered all at once when she felt his hot breath on her neck as he growled into her ear, “Don’t y’ do dat! Don’t go pretendin’ dat dis is somethin’ y’ don’t want! Don’t y’ push m’ away! Ah can’t take it anymore! A man’s got limits Rouge.”
Many things were going through Rogue’s mind at once: the feel of his strong chest pressing her back firmly against him, the surprising excitement that she felt upon hearing his very possessive words, the growing dampness and warmth in her suddenly soaked under garments, and, of course, his very obvious arousal that he had pressed firmly against her backside. But she couldn’t risk hurting him, she just couldn’t bear that knowledge that she had him in her brain somewhere.

“Remy…” She said softly and shakily. “We can’t… Ah can’t…” She gasped when his arms slipped around her waist and pulled her tighter against him.

“Yes… y’ can.” Remy said firmly. One arm was kept diligently wrapped around her waist while the other snaked down to her lower region and slipped up under her skirt. Rogue’s eyes nearly bugged out of her skull as she felt him roughly slip her panties partly down her thighs, stopping just above her knees.

“Remy, please…” She said, not really sure what she was begging for. Just as she spoke “please”, Remy pulled the skirt up to bunch at her waist. She moaned out loud when she felt his very naked, very large member prodding her bare bottom. “Remy, we really can’t do this- oh God…” She gasped as she felt his thick tip barely slip into her wet, tight, channel.

“Tell m’ t’ stop.” He said, firmly into her ear. She tried to ignore the feelings he was bringing out in just being slightly inside of her in an attempt to look in his eyes, but was failing miserably. “Ah will stop if y’ ask. Say no. Call Logan, kick mah ass. Tell m’ y’ don’t want dis.”

Rogue didn’t answer. The only answer he received came when she leaned her head back onto his shoulder and snaked her left arm around to entangle her fingers in his hair as her right hand rested gently on the arm around her waist. Remy needed no further invitation.

Without warning, Remy made a thrust all the way inside her. Rogue let out a startled cry and clutched his hair firmly. Rogue heard
a groan come out of Remy’s throat at the feeling of her surrounding him. When Remy pulled almost entirely out and then pushed back into her, Rogue whimpered at the feeling of her tight walls fluttering around his invading member.

Remy was gentle with her at first; then his hand snaked down to the juncture between her legs and his index and middle finger began to furiously rub her clit in firm, quick circles. Rogue’s breath went from heavy continuous breaths to short pants as his callused fingers went to work on her. She did not think it was possible before for her to get any more wet than she already was; Remy happily acknowledged that when he moaned deeply as he slid in and out of her with greater ease.

Remy’s movements within her became a little harder as he felt Rogue begin to meet him thrust for thrust. Rogue shut her eyes as she let out a moan that was akin to crying when she felt him somehow go deeper inside of her, continuously hitting that special place inside of her that made her see stars behind her eyes.

Roughly Remy tugged on the bottom hem of her shirt and pushed it up over breasts. He wasted no time in pulling the cups of her bra down so that her ample breasts were freed from their confines. Rogue bit her lip as she felt Remy’s callused hand roughly mold her breast. He squeezed one almost to the point of pain and then did the same to the other. His thumb circled her large nipple, making it stick out to a little point, and then he pinched it between his thumb and forefinger.

With her breast in one hand and his other hand pleasuring her clit, Remy lowered his mouth to her neck and began to kiss and bite the length of it with a passion. Rogue tilted her head to the side, exposing more of her neck to him and he took full advantage of her offer. Rogue followed his arm with her hand down to her center where she made her best attempt to keep him there and make him not stop doing what he was doing. Remy sensed her urgency and trailed kisses and licks and nips up her neck until he found her earlobe where he proceeded to give that some attention.

Rogue couldn’t take this any more; she needed to come and she needed to come soon. “Remy, please…” She gasped. Remy, almost there himself, quickened his thrusts and increased the pressure of his finger on her clit. Rogue finally let out a series of moans that were almost reminiscent of weeping and she tossed her head back onto his shoulder. She screamed when her orgasm finally hit her and gripped his hair and his hand tighter against her. The feeling of her tight heat convulsing around him was too much for Remy; after a few more deep thrusts into her, he finally lost himself inside of Rogue and she felt him gush and twitch inside of her.

Remy, panting and perspiring in the afterglow, rested his forehead against her shoulder. He removed his hand from her suddenly sensitive clit and his other hand from her breast and just wrapped both arms around her waist again. He withdrew from her and waited to catch his breath before he spoke again. “It wasn’t supposed t’ be like dis.” He said softly, sounding almost remorseful. “It was supposed t’ last all night, and be on a bed, and we were supposed t’ make love, not fuck.” Remy tenderly caressed the soft flesh of her stomach, which made her shudder briefly. “Ah’m sorry.”

Rogue contemplated what he had said for a moment, while she gingerly caressed his slightly damp strands of hair. Her head still resting on his shoulder, she gently craned her neck so that she could look at his face. She pulled her hand out of his hair and then caressed it over the skin of his cheek. Resting her hand just above his jaw, she turned his face to look at her. His face looked surprised to see her gently smiling at him. She ran her fingers over his stubble before she said, “Ah’m not.” Her face turned serious when they both simultaneously tilted their heads and leaned closer to each other, with their eyes determinedly set on the other’s mouth…

“AAAHHH!” Rogue screamed suddenly as she quickly rose up from her sleep into a sitting position. Deep breath in, deep breath out. That had been her most intense dream yet; never before had one seemed so real. It was just a dream… wasn’t it? She thought. Her head darted around trying to get a bearing on her surroundings. She was still in her tent, the trip wasn’t over, and Remy hadn’t…

“Rogue?” Kitty mumbled, sounding a little frustrated. She rolled over in her sleeping bag and switched on the lantern that was situated between the two sleeping bags. It was then that she realized that she and Rogue were the only two people in the tent. “Where’d-“ Kitty was about to ask for the whereabouts of her favorite blue elf when she saw Rogue sitting up in her sleeping bag. Oh no, Kitty thought miserably. It was just a dream. I knew it was too good to be true… it was the best dream I’ve ever had. Kitty looked at her roommate with some amount of annoyance in her eyes. Rogue had woken her up just before the dream got even better, and as a result, Kitty was feeling slightly frustrated at the moment.

“Kitty…” Rogue said, as more of a statement. She was still in a slight daze from her dream. I can’t believe I actually let him rape me, she thought before she realized something. No, it wasn’t rape. It was semi-consensual, sure, but he didn’t force me to do anything. Rogue then shifted her legs slightly and noticed the incredible amount of moisture that had collected between her legs. And I liked it. A lot.

“What’s the matter Rogue? Did you have another nightmare?” Kitty asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Uh…” Rogue was getting a little tired of this nightmare excuse, since these dreams were definitely not of the nightmare variety. Though the idea of someone rubbing in her face the fact that she was having sexy thoughts about their resident Cajun was scary enough to make her love the fact that people bought she was having nightmares. “Yeah.”

“Well that’s great. You woke me up from the best dream ever, you know that? I think maybe it’s time that you talked to the Professor about them, because you’re having them like every night.”

“Kitty, mah mind is a mystery: a very jumbled, chaotic mystery that Ah can’t even begin to understand. Ah don’t need one more person trying to get into mah brain.” Rogue said, readjusting her sleeping bag.

“But if you work with the Professor… who knows? One day, you might be able to control your powers. And I know at least one person, besides you, that would be very happy about that.”

Rogue didn’t say anything; she turned her back to Kitty and laid her head back down. “Sorry Ah woke you. Goodnight Kitty.”

Kitty sighed, but laid down on her back herself before reaching over to the lamp and switching it off. “Goodnight Rogue.”

They both laid there in the darkness for a few minutes, neither of them asleep yet. Kitty sighed and spoke into the darkness at
Rogue. “Hey Rogue?”

“Yeah?” Rogue mumbled back.

“Are you asleep yet?”

Rogue sighed in her throat in annoyance at the question. “Would Ah be talkin’ to you if Ah was?”

“Right.” Kitty then reached over and turned on the lantern again. “Do you want to come pee with me?”

Rogue rolled over to look at her eternally perky roommate. “You want meh to what?”

“I need to pee and the Professor said that we can’t leave the tent after dark without a buddy and I really, really need to go so please?” Kitty said, in her typical Kitty speed.

Rogue stared at her often bizarre friend before letting out an incredulous sigh. “Congratulations Kitty. You are the first friend Ah’ve ever had who’s asked meh to come pee with them.”

“So does that mean you’re coming?” Kitty asked, slipping out of her sleeping bag.

“Yeah, Ah mean, Ah just can’t turn that down.” Rogue said, reaching for her Doc Martin ankle boots.

Kitty slipped on her flip flops and began to unzip their tent. She stepped outside their tent briefly before shrieking softly, and then immediately re-entering the tent. “It’s freezing out there!” She squealed.

“Well, what did you expect? That’s mountain weather; warm during the day, but cold in the mornings and evenings.” Rogue said, pulling on her black Invader Zim hoodie.

“I don’t know, I mean it’s the middle of June!” Kitty exclaimed, pulling on her light blue hoodie with a 70’s influenced multi-colored star in the middle of it.

“That makes no difference.” Rogue replied, crawling over to the tent entrance and stepping outside. “You coming or not?”

Kitty crawled forward and stood with Rogue. Together, they re-zipped their tent and walked towards the… “facilities.”

The entire campsite was quiet. Where the fire had been was now just a pile of ashen firewood. The teachers’ tent stood proud at the opposite end of the campsite and was the largest one there. And it was dark. The only form of light that allowed the girls to navigate their way to the designated edge of the forest was the clouded light of the moon and the stars. No one was awake besides Rogue and Kitty… save one person that no one knew about.

“What have we here? A midnight rendezvous maybe?” Matilda said, examining the two girls from the safe distance of her tree perch. She was dressed in all black spy gear, complete with night vision goggles. “That Professor guy fell asleep an hour ago (Matilda knew, as she had checked on his tent prior to her observation of the girls’ tent) so he’s not a problem right now. Time to eavesdrop.” Matilda vanished from her tree branch only to appear on the ground not far from where Rogue and Kitty had gone, this time dressed in her signature white dress.

Imagine Matilda’s surprise to see both girls squatting in the bushes. “Oh. It was just a potty break.” She looked behind her preparing to leave. “I probably should give them some privacy-“

“So like what was your nightmare about tonight Rogue?” Kitty asked casually.

Matilda shut her mouth and turned back to the girls with a renewed interest in her eyes. “Rogue had another ‘nightmare’ tonight? This I have to hear.”

Kitty noticed Rogue’s visible discomfort about discussing said nightmare. “Um… it was nothing. Ah… dreamt Ah walked into breakfast naked.”

“Oh.” Kitty said. She sounded as though she accepted that response at first and was prepared to drop the subject before a thought occurred to her. “Have all of your nightmares been like that?” Rogue looked at Kitty oddly; did she look frightened? “I mean, you’ve been having them for awhile and they always sounded pretty intense. Knowing what you’ve been through, I can only imagine the kind of nightmares those experiences would produce. I always thought that you were having a heart attack the way that you were screaming and thrashing and-“

“Ah lied okay?!” Rogue interrupted suddenly.

“What?”

“Ah lied. Ah haven’t been having any nightmares.” Rogue turned her head away, suddenly very fascinated with a bush.

“Ooo-kay….” Kitty wondered for a second. “Why would you lie about something like that?”

“Because the truth is embarrassing.” Rogue answered frankly.

“Rogue…” Kitty said in such a firm voice that it made Rogue look at her serious expression. “Yesterday, I came in front of my best friend, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, I pulled him on top of me and got off on him and he actually saw my bra. Then I had to witness said best friend also have an orgasm, got him naked, put on a condom on him, and he had me grip his penis so he could get off on me too. What makes that worse is that the one person who likes Kurt that I cannot stand walked in on me straddling him, probably told the whole mansion that I was raping him, and I had to talk to the people that I consider to be my parents about it. The day before that, everyone was convinced that I was a stripper, and everyone at the dinner table found out that I can belly dance.” Kitty paused with her eyes still locked with Rogue’s. “I think I know a little bit about being embarrassed.” Rogue snorted a little bit at the recap of the past few days’ events. “So what is the truth?” Rogue stared at the ground, not meeting Kitty’s eyes. “Wait a second… you started having these dreams when…” Rogue shot her head up to look at Kitty who had a huge enlightened smile on her face. “Oh my God! When Remy joined the team! You’ve been having dreams about Remy, haven’t you?!” She squealed.

Rogue hastily shushed Kitty. “Shhh!” Her eyes quickly darted around the general area nervously. “Why not say it a little louder, Ah’m not sure everyone in the tri-state area heard you!” Rogue whispered harshly.

“Sorry.” Kitty said through a giggle. “Does that mean that I’m right?”

Rogue ducked her head to hide the blush spreading across her face. Kitty giggled maniacally, which caused Rogue to glare at her. “Oh, leave meh alone.”

“How could I forget that girls tell each other everything when they go to the bathroom?” Matilda asked herself, as she watched the girls straighten themselves up. Rogue sat on a log close by and Kitty stood in front of her with her hands planted firmly on her hips. “Go figure.”

“Oh I am so right. What kind of dreams are they?” Kitty asked, with her characteristic girliness. “What do you do in them?” Kitty then gasped when a new thought occurred to her. “Are they… sexy dreams?” She asked with a shy smile.

“None of your damn business!” Rogue cried indignantly. She did not want to have this conversation right then…

“Rogue, you know that Kitty is going to keep bugging you and bugging you until you give in.” Matilda said, coming to stand beside Rogue (of course, considering Matilda’s stature and the fact that Rogue was still in a sitting position, they were both about level). “Besides, she might let it slip that you have been dreaming about Remy to Jubilee or Tabitha and they will blow the whole thing out of proportion and can only speculate what kind of perverted things you were doing with Remy in dreamland. Or worse… Remy might catch wind of it. However, if you tell Kitty the truth, she will realize the direness of keeping her mouth shut…”

“Tell meeee!” Kitty squealed.

“All right! We do… stuff.” Rogue added “stuff” quietly.

“Oooh, what kind of stuff?” Kitty asked eagerly, sitting down on a rock close by.

“…” Rogue looked towards nothing as she spoke. “… Sexy stuff.”

“Oh come on! Tell me more than that!” Kitty said, practically bouncing on her log.

“You want to know more than that?” Rogue asked, skeptically.

“Yes! Details, damn it! What sorts of things does he do to you? Is he a good kisser? Does it turn you on? All that!”

Rogue sighed; this would not be fun. “Kitty, he fucks meh in mah dreams. What more detail do you need?”

“Could you use a different word please?” Kitty asked, a little frustrated.

“Well, what word do you want meh to use? You asked what we do, and that’s what we do. We fuck.” Rogue replied, almost too frankly.

“I just hate that word, okay? It sounds like what you two do together is so… nasty.”

“Well, there is a reason why another term for sex is ‘doin’ the nasty’.”

“Yeah, but… I can’t picture you two doing something so meaningless.”

“Okay…” Rogue contemplated her friend’s words (she decided to ignore the urge to ask why Kitty was imagining her having sex with Remy for now) before continuing. “You’ve officially lost meh. What do you mean?”

“I mean… I can’t picture you two just…” Kitty lowered voice to barely a whisper as she said, “fucking.” Rogue was about to laugh at Kitty’s very middle school behavior, but then Kitty finished her thought that left Rogue speechless. “I mean, I can see you two making love to each other, but not just having meaningless sex.”

Rogue was silent. Dream Remy had said something about there being a difference between love making and fucking just that night. “Aren’t they the same thing?”

“I don’t think so. I think when you just have sex it’s just to satisfy an animalistic urge that you have towards another person. But when you make love with someone… I think that’s when you want someone to feel how much you love them and your own urges aren’t really that important anymore. Sex goes from mating to like the ultimate expression of love.” Kitty looked up at the tapestry of trees with something like hope in her eyes.

Both Matilda and Rogue looked at Kitty with surprised eyes. They were both thinking something similar. “You know, you have a pretty good idea about sex for a virgin.” Rogue said, after a while.

“I listen to the other girls talk about their sex lives. Part of it, I admit is wishful thinking.”

“So how do you think making love is supposed to go?” Rogue asked curiously.

“I don’t know…” Kitty said, blushing. “Lots of foreplay, probably. Taking things slow, especially if it’s the girl’s first time. Looking in your lover’s eyes and just feel the love radiating off of them.” Kitty looked almost dreamy when she said this.

“Hmm.” Matilda raised her eyebrows in enlightened surprise. “She does have a good idea of what love making is supposed to be like.”

“And kissing definitely is a must. Lots of it.” Kitty finished.

Rogue looked at Kitty surprised as she realized something. When she woke up from her dream, it was right before she and Remy could…

“Kitty… Ah think Ah have a problem.” Rogue said, looking dazedly distressed.

“What do you mean?” Kitty asked, sounding concerned.

Rogue bowed her head as her face began to redden and she spoke. “You’ve probably figured out that Remy and Ah have done a lot of things in mah dreams for awhile now… but what you said just now made meh realize one thing we haven’t done in mah dreams.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“We haven’t kissed.” Kitty looked at Rogue surprised. “Ah know, it’s the strangest thing. Ah mean, in mah dreams we’ve done it in the backseat of a station wagon, we’ve done it in Scott’s car, we’ve done it on an African safari, we did it in almost every room in the mansion, and several other places where you wouldn’t think it’s possible to do it but we’ve done it. We’ve done it in almost every position even the most dirty minded person could imagine. And Ah can’t believe the things Ah’ve let him do to meh… in mah dreams. For starters, tonight Ah had a dream where he…” Rogue hesitated, not wanting Kitty to think that she was weirder anymore than she already thought she was. “Kind of forced meh. (Kitty raised her eyebrows at that but didn’t say anything) And last week, Ah had a dream where he… had sex with meh in an area that’s kind of uncomfortable.”

“Huh?” Kitty said, looking genuinely confused.

“You know… the only hole a girl has that requires additional lubricant?” Rogue said, gently.

“Oh.” Kitty thought about a second longer. “Oh. Oh! Eww! You’re into that?”

“Ah was in mah dream.” She replied simply. “Plus, Ah have to spend the rest of mah life not knowin’ what touch is. At this point, Ah’m open to anything.”

“You’ve done all of that in your dreams.” Rogue nodded her head. “Except kissing.”

“Ah don’t know why. It’s weird that it just now occurred to meh.” Rogue smirked to herself. “Ah won’t let him kiss meh in mah dreams and Ah won’t let him kiss meh in real life. Freaky how that worked out, isn’t it?”

“Kissed you in real life? Remy’s tried to kiss you?” Kitty asked curiously. Rogue looked at the girl surprised.

“Oh mah God. Ah guess with what’s been goin’ on with you and mah brother and the rest of the craziness, Ah forgot to mention it.”

“You forgot to mention that the man of your dreams has tried to kiss you?!” Kitty exclaimed.

“Kitty, let’s not spread the ‘man of mah dreams’ bit around, okay?” Kitty nodded fervently, but still looked anxious for what Rogue had to say. “He’s actually tried to kiss meh more than once.”

“What?! You jerk! How could you not tell me?!”

“Kitty, Ah haven’t let him kiss meh. He’s tried (more than once), but Ah won’t let him.”

“Why won’t you let him? I bet he’s an awesome kisser!”

Rogue looked at Kitty with her patented “are you an idiot” glare. “Kitty, there’s one very important factor in this equation.” Kitty cocked her head confusedly. “Mah powers Kitty. Remember them? They’re the things that keep meh from coming into physical contact for the rest of mah life? Slight hindrance in the kissing department.”

“Oh yeah. But wait… doesn’t Remy know about your powers too?”

Rogue didn’t answer for a second. “Yeah.” She said meekly.

“But he still tried to kiss you?”

“Yeah.”

“More than once?”

“Yeah.”

“Even though it could knock him unconscious, put him in a coma, or even kill him?”

“Yeah! Kitty, he’s tried to kiss meh even though he knew about all of that.” Rogue said, sounding somewhat beyond frustrated.

“Wow.” Kitty looked at the floor for a second. “He must like you much more than I thought.”

“Wait, he said that he likes meh?” Rogue asked, with a renewed interest.

“Not out loud, but you can like totally tell.” Kitty smiled at Rogue, but her eyes looked somewhat sad. “You are so lucky, you know? I mean, you’ve got a totally hot guy who’s willing to get killed just to get one kiss from you! *sigh*. I wish I had your problems.” And boobs your size, Kitty thought enviously.

“Oh yeah, living with the knowledge that I could kill said hot guy with just one kiss is so enviable.” Rogue added, rolling her eyes.

“Oh come on, Rogue? Can’t you be a little happy about it?”

“Kitty, each time he tries to kiss meh just reminds meh about how alone Ah really am. This is the one time Ah wish he wasn’t so damn persistent.” Rogue grumbled.

“Persistent?” Kitty furrowed her eyebrows. “Rogue, exactly how many times has he tried to kiss you?”

“Hmm.” Rogue thought about it. “Well, once while we were watchin’ a movie, once in the kitchen, four times in his bedroom, and once again tonight. So that would make it…” Rogue did the math on her fingers quickly. “Seven times that he’s tried to kiss meh in the past three days.”

Kitty’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. “He’s tried to kiss you seven times, and you haven’t done anything about it?”

“What’s there to do about it, Kitty? Ah mean really…”

“I don’t know. It’s just…” Kitty trailed off. “That’s seven times he’s risked his life just to kiss you. Not many guys will do that.”

“Ah wish Ah understood his logic behind it all. Ah mean, why meh? There are several other girls in the mansion, most of which would be only too happy to be his love puppets. Why’s he wastin’ his time on meh?”

“Rogue…” Now it was Kitty’s turn to look at Rogue like she’s an idiot. “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe he’s pursuing you because he likes you?”

“Kitty, Remy’s a player. Guys like that only like women for one thing.”

“And it’s that one thing that you can’t give him.” Kitty said, bluntly. “He knows that, and yet he keeps trying to be with you.”

Rogue shook her head dismissively. “Maybe it’s a challenge for him or something; to see how far he can lead meh along.”

“Right. Like he’s stupid enough to do that to the one girl in the world who could put him in a coma with just a touch if she’s pushed far enough.”

Rogue shook her head again, this time it didn’t seem as steady. “Or maybe-“

“Or maybe he thinks you’re pretty. Or maybe he likes your personality. You’re the only one who doesn’t fall for his crap, maybe he adores that. Or maybe he sees someone who’s been through a lot, and is tired of seeing her alone all the time. Maybe he likes you Rogue and wants to be more than friends with you. Did you ever think of any of that?”

Rogue shook her head again. “Kitty, he has to have some sort of ulterior motive. He’s a thief, born and bred, remember? Plus, Ah have been inside his head. Ah know how he operates.” Rogue said, tapping her own temple.

“Hmm.” Kitty looked off into space as though she was thinking something.

“What?” Rogue asked, almost reluctantly.

“Well, I just think it’s interesting about how persistent he’s being and yet no matter how many times he’s been turned down, he still keeps trying to kiss you.” Rogue nodded, slightly curious as to where this was going. “And you said it yourself that he always has an ulterior motive, right?”

“Kitty, where are you goin’ with this?”

“What if the reason he’s trying to kiss you is to show you something?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, what if there’s something inside of his head that he wants you to know but he can’t find the right words to express it?”

“Okay, now you’re really reachin’.” Rogue said, dismissively.

“Maybe. Wait! You know what’s going on inside his head. Because you gave him a kiss yesterday. I was there when you told everyone, remember?”

“It was a little peck, Kitty; Ah would hardly qualify that as a kiss.”

“Still, you got a glimpse of Remy’s brain while your lips were touching a part of him. How many girls can claim that?” Rogue shrugged, acting like she didn’t care. “So… what did you get from him when you kissed him?”

Rogue looked distant. Matilda snuck up from behind her and pushed her fingers into Rogue’s mind. She immediately pulled them out and smiled. “Whoo boy…”

“Ah didn’t get much… except…” Rogue trailed off; saying this would mean that she was admitting defeat in this debate.

“Yes?” Kitty said, leaning forward slightly.

“He wasn’t thinkin’ about sex or what we could be doin’. He was just… loving the way mah lips felt.” Rogue looked at her feet; she didn’t need to see Kitty’s face to know that she was beaming.

“Oh my God.” Kitty said, in a soft squeal. “That is like so totally sweet!”

“It doesn’t matter Kitty. It doesn’t matter what he wants or what Ah want. It doesn’t change anything.” Rogue said, in the signature Rogue glumness.

“But if you’re both willing to try-“

“Kitty, it doesn’t matter! Even if Ah wanted to try, nothing could ever come of it. Eventually, he would realize that mah powers ain’t goin’ anywhere and he will want a girl who could make love with him. He’ll realize that Ah really was a waste of his time. And Ah don’t think Ah can handle bein’ hurt anymore. Ah’m messed up enough already.” Rogue turned her head up to look at her friend. She had been expecting Kitty to look sad or feel foolish for what she had said, so she was surprised by seeing Kitty looking at her skeptically. “What? Why are you givin’ meh that look?”

“No reason.” Kitty looked away, but her eyes turned to look at Rogue.

“Kitty?”

“It’s just…”

“What is it?” Rogue said, fed up.

“Aren’t those excuses getting old?”

“What?” Rogue asked, somewhat shocked that Kitty could be so bold.

“That list of excuses you just made. Everyone knows that’s what you say when you use your powers as a reason for avoiding human interaction.”

“Well of course they’re a reason for avoiding human interaction! Ah could kill someone if Ah’m not careful.”

“You see, you’re doing it again.” Kitty replied, with honesty in her eyes. “You always use your powers as an excuse to isolate yourself. ‘Hey Rogue, you want to go swimming?’ ‘No, mah powers would get someone hurt’ or ‘Hey Rogue, you want to go to the mall?’ ‘No, Ah could come into contact with someone in a large crowd’ or ‘Hey Rogue, you want-“

“Okay, Ah get the general idea! But it’s true Kitty!”

“Yeah, it’s true but you’re wearing like four layers of clothing when you go out so a person would literally have to rip your shirt off in order to come into contact with your skin.”

“It’s happened before, hasn’t it? When Ah lost control, do you remember that?”

“Yeah, I do. And Jean lost control in front of the entire school and nearly got us all killed. And Evan lost control and went to live in the sewers. There’s always a risk that we could lose control and people could get hurt or we could hurt ourselves Rogue. You’re in the same boat everyone here is in. So sue me if I think that you deserve the same chances that we all get.”

“Yes! Thank you Kitty! You go girl!” Matilda exclaimed, spinning in a happy circle.

“But… it’s not the same. Mah power is in mah skin. Just mah touch could hurt someone…” Rogue trailed off, her resolve clearly wavering.

“So could Amara’s. So could Jubilee’s. So could Remy’s! If Scott ever took off his visor, he could kill someone just by looking at them. Rogue… we’re all here to learn control. And like Kurt says almost every day, you have to have faith. And I have faith in you that you will learn control too.” Rogue’s sigh was her only response; Kitty knew she had won. “I think Remy has faith in you too. And that’s why he keeps coming back to you Rogue. He sees that strength inside of you. And I think you should totally give him a chance.”

Rogue looked sadly at Kitty. “Kitty, let’s get one thing straight: if Ah did somehow gain control, it’s not going to be where Ah wake up one day and have control over mah powers. If Ah did try the relationship thing with him, it would probably be a long time before Ah got control, or if Ah ever did. Would he be willin’ to wait that long?”

“I think you should let him answer that question.”

Rogue cast her eyes downward. “Every night, Ah dream about him. And we do so many wonderful things together. But then Ah wake up and nothing’s changed. And each time he tries to kiss meh… it’s not easy pullin’ away, you know. Ah want him too so badly. But Ah want him not to be hurt even more. Ah want to keep him out of mah head and out here in front meh, where he belongs. And if that means dyin’ a virgin, Ah guess that’s mah fate.”

“*Feh*. What do these girls know about fate?” Matilda asked herself. “But Rogue’s right. As long as her powers are around, they will continue to be a roadblock in my overall plans. I’ll have to come to a solution eventually.”

“You have no idea how wonderful touch really is, Kitty. If you’ve got the ability to, you should be touchin’ whenever you get the chance. Which makes meh wonder…?” Rogue said, this time looking deep in thought herself.

“Wonder what?” Kitty asked, pondering how the subject got switched around to her.

“It makes meh wonder why you’re still a virgin, Kit.”

“Oh.” It was Kitty’s turn to blush.

“Because if it was meh, Ah would’ve handed Remy mah cherry on top of a sundae a long time ago.” Kitty looked at Rogue with wide eyes.

“Can I quote you on that?”

“Ah mean, you were doin’ the on-again, off-again dance with ‘I’m gonna rock your world’ boy for the longest time before you both officially called it quits. All of us figured at some point yal got down to it. But you didn’t.”

“Okay, I thought no one here liked Lance. Are you saying that you wanted me to throw myself at him?”

“Of course not. Ah’m glad you didn’t give into his advances so easily. But then Piotr and you were crushing on each other for awhile and he’s a big improvement.”

“Yeah, but that faded off into the sunset and you know why.”

“Well duh. But there’s still mah brother…”

“What do you mean? Kurt and I are just-“

“Kitty, so help meh God, if the next words that come out of your are ‘just friends’, Ah’m going to strangle you.”

“But it’s the truth…” Kitty said, somewhat weakly.

“Puh-lease.” Rogue drawled. “Everyone was there. Everyone saw it. Everyone heard what you said to him. And everyone saw the way you looked at each other. And everyone knows that you two are definitely not just friends.”*

“Rogue, that was a really crazy night.”

“Yeah, it was. But it did reveal a lot about how you both feel about each other. Haven’t yal talked about it since then?”

“No… that night really changed Kurt, and I’m… giving him time to get okay with the truth about his… father.”

“Well that’s very noble of you. But it’s been almost a month, hasn’t it?”

“You don’t adjust to that kind of knowledge in a month, Rogue.”

“No, you’re right. You don’t. But it becomes easier to heal if you’ve got someone there helping you.”

“He has the whole mansion helping him.”

“But he wants you to help him.”

“I have been, as a friend. Right now… I don’t think either of us can handle anything more.”

“But… you do want something more with him… don’t you.” Rogue said, as more of a statement than a question.

“… I have for a while.” Kitty admitted.

“How long have you known that?”

“I think a little before that… ‘night of hell’. It was like, waking up one day realizing that you’ve spent years looking for your knight in shining armor… only to figure out that he’s been right in front of you this whole time.”

“You know… if you tried to start something with him now, he wouldn’t say no.”

“Yes, he would. If I told him how I really felt about him, he would laugh at me and say something like it would be like dating his sister and things would be totally weird between us from then on.”

“Kitty, are you insane? There is no way he thinks of you as his sister.” Kitty looked confused. “Kitty, that boy has been crazy about you since the day he first saw you.”

“And he thinks he’s hiding it.” Matilda put in her two cents.

“Maybe when he first met me. But he’s moved on to… to better things since then. I mean, he’s been with Tabby and then he was with… Amanda.” Kitty said Amanda’s name so sadly. “Perfect Amanda. She was so pretty, and so nice, and she wasn’t scared of Kurt when she saw his real form.” Kitty looked sadly at the sky peaking through the trees. “There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where I haven’t felt bad for treating him that way. He must hate me so much for it.”

“He doesn’t hate you Kitty. Not at all. Ah think he’s used to that reaction by now. He and Amanda were good together, Ah can’t deny that. But there is a reason they broke up after all.”

“I don’t even know why they broke up, and he tells me everything, except that. Whenever I ask him about it, he just says that it was a mutual thing.”

“Well there you go. They both felt it was obviously for the best that they broke up. Therefore, he’s up for grabs kid.”

“Yeah, but… I’m sure there are like a ton of girls that he would go out with before me. Not even Tabby was scared of him. But I was. I screwed up my chances.”

“Ah wouldn’t be too sure. If you recall, Beauty was scared of the Beast when she first met him. But she did fall in love with him despite of his appearance.”

“But that’s the thing… I don’t think Kurt’s ugly.”

“Of course he’s not. Before Ah knew he was actually mah brother, Ah thought he was a stud.”

“I know, he is! His face is so beautiful, and everything else about him just makes him so… him! You know, I’ve actually looked at a decent looking guy and thought ‘he’s cute… but he’s not blue!’”

Both Matilda and Rogue laughed at that. “You got it bad, girl.” They both chorused. Rogue looked at her seriously. “Then why were you scared of him in the first place? Is Kurt an acquired taste?”

Kitty looked serious as she stared at her hands. “Hmm.” Matilda looked at Kitty’s sad expression. “This cannot be good. I better… why do I smell sulfur and brimstone-“ Matilda jerked her head upwards. “Oh no. Why didn’t I notice that sooner? How long has he been there?” Matilda vanished to investigate.

“Kurt’s not an acquired taste. It wasn’t really his looks that scared me… but it was something about him that terrifies me even now…”

Kurt shifted uncomfortably in his sleeping bag. He could feel the sweat start to culminate beneath his fur. Mein Gott... mein Pelz wird bald, aufzuhäufen beginnen, he thought. He tried kicking his legs out, but that only made the collecting heat inside of his sleeping bag encompass more of his legs. Finally fed up with the uncomfortable, overheated pocket of fabric and fluff, Kurt pulled his body out of the bag entirely and laid himself atop the sleeping bag.

He smiled triumphantly for a few moments, with one hand resting on his stomach and the other pillowing his head. He
had his eyes closed as he attempted sleep, but then he felt Jamie shift in his own sleeping bag beside him. Kurt opened one eye and gently turned his head to glance at his soundly sleeping tent buddy. Jamie was sound asleep on his side with one arm draped over his side and the other slung outwards towards Kurt. He sported Power Rangers pajamas and his hair was already mussed from sleeping. The ten year old seemed still, save for the gentle rise and fall of his chest with his breathing.

Kurt smiled and again tried to resume sleeping. That’s when he felt a somewhat padded kick to his thigh. Kurt opened both eyes, furrowed his brows, and glanced over at Jamie again. He was in more of a fetal position this time with his sleeping bag covered feet pointing directly at Kurt’s legs. He was surprised by how innocent the little boy looked.

Kurt sighed in his throat, resignedly deciding to make the best of this situation no matter what. Jamie just had to ruin that by next rolling his body fully into Kurt’s side, however it was not the contact that caused Kurt to become so uncomfortable. It was the fact that the slight impact caused about five more Jamies to accompany them in the tent. These tents were manufactured to only hold two people at most, and the addition of five more small ten year old boys made Kurt feel very uncomfortable and it also made breathing slightly more difficult.

Kurt grunted and tried to get one of the Jamie clones of his chest, but realized that it was in vain as the Jamie flopped backwards to make himself more comfortable… right on top of Kurt’s chest which momentarily knocked the wind out of him. Kurt strained his neck to look over at the real Jamie, who slept in a blissful ignorance of Kurt’s predicament. “Jamie...?” Kurt managed to wheeze out, but Jamie managed to sleep on.

Kurt flopped his head back and just stared at the roof of the tent for a few moments. “Nein, Jamie it is all right that no one vould share a tent vith you. You can room vith me, I don’t mind.” Kurt said to himself, disgustedly. He again tried to push the Jamie that was on top of him off of him, but with his arms placed uncomfortably at such an awkward angle it was proving difficult. He felt another Jamie sleeping comfortably right on top of his tail, which was not so comfortable for Kurt. Okay… maybe I can sleep like this… he thought. Again, Kurt shut his eyes and tried his best to relax. Then all five Jamies began a chorus of snoring. That was the last straw. “There is not enough room in this tent for all of us.” Kurt gazed longingly at the entrance of the tent. “I vill find a tree to sleep in.” Kurt said rather meekly, before porting out of the tent, letting the Jamie that was on his chest fall to the floor. That Jamie looked up briefly, confused, before returning to his slumber.

Kurt had remembered seeing a nice tall tree around the edge of the forest earlier in the day. He visualized it and that’s where he ended up. “Aaaahh.” He said, as he folded his arms behind his head and leaned back on the limb. He shut his eyes with a small smile on his face and softly closed his eyes to once again try his hand at sleep.

“Then why were you scared of him in the first place? Is Kurt…” Kurt’s eyes shot open at the sound of his name. He didn’t hear the rest of the sentence as he began to climb over the branch to get a good look at the ground.

“Kurt’s…scared me… but it was something about him that terrifies me even now…” Kurt froze; that voice was saying he frightened someone… but who?

He gripped the branch tightly with both his hands and his tail as he leaned over the side. He saw the top of a white streaked head and a brown ponytail that bobbed as she spoke. Mein schwester and… Kitty… He thought with a mental sigh. Are they talking about me?

“Kurt still scares you? That surprises meh.” Rogue said, with an eyebrow raised.

“It surprises me too. But each time… it gets me.” Kitty shivered slightly, just thinking about it.

“Well… how does he scare you?”

Kitty paused and looked thoughtful. It was hard for her to vocalize these particular thoughts, and the fact that Kurt was not far away only made it harder for her. Just knowing that he was close by made her feel like there was a butterfly orgy happening in her stomach. As a matter of fact, it felt like he was close by right then… Kitty shook off the feeling and continued. “I think… I think it’s his eyes.” Rogue looked at Kitty with surprise. “Whenever he looks at me… I feel a little sick, kind of dizzy I think.”

My eyes… Kurt stole a thick finger up to touch the skin under his eye. My eyes scare her and make her feel sick… Kurt could a feel a sick feeling welling up in his own stomach.

“Well, Ah would think that it would be his fangs that scared you. Or the fact that his body is covered in blue fur… or his little pointy ears… or his weird shaped hands and feet… or his tail, but it’s his eyes that bother you the most about him?”

“Yeah, you know that was the first thing I noticed about him the day we met? I looked straight in his eyes when we met and then I saw the rest of him. It was always his eyes that scared me. I think they’re the most unusual eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re that really wild looking shade of yellow and gold… and… it happened the day we met. That was the first time in my life that I can ever remember hoping that… I could die right then. All just by looking in his eyes.”

Can you hear that? To any innocent bystander it would have sounded just like the silence that stood between Rogue and Kitty as the words floated in the air. But if you listened harder, you could hear the sound of Kurt’s heart shattering into a million pieces.
Kurt could feel the tears stinging the corners of his eyes (speaking of) and actually contemplated gouging them out and spending the rest of his life as a blind man. Just so the girl he wanted more than anything else in the world would not be afraid of him. He had thought that she accepted him for the monster he always knew he was, but now… now he knew how she really felt.

She fears my eyes… He thought sadly. So I will never look in her eyes ever again.

“Kurt…” Matilda said urgently behind him. “She didn’t mean it… you know she didn’t mean it like that!” She was behind him and he was in a sitting position on his branch. His tail was flicking about wildly as his hands squeezed the branch to almost a breaking point. His mouth was shut tightly and he was taking deep breaths in and out as he fought back his tears. “Kurt please… she cares about you… just hear her out!” Kurt clenched his eyes shut and shook his head furiously (Matilda noticed one or two streams of tears that managed to leak out of the corners of his eyes). Kurt suddenly vanished with a *bamf*; Matilda jumped from her position in a vain attempt to grab his tail and wound up on her stomach with both her arms and legs wrapped around the branch.

“Ooof!” She declared. She pulled her head up and looked around for the furry blue elf, who was no where in sight. “Great. This is not good… this is going to take a little more finesse to try and right this wrong.” Matilda sat up and scowled looking slightly confused. “I don’t get it? I know that girl is absolutely crazy about Kurt! Why would she say something like that…”

“Why do his eyes scare you Kitty?” Rogue asked, after a few moments.

Kitty sighed, and looked straight into Rogue’s eyes. After a moment, she smiled. “Have you ever noticed that Kurt’s eyes are the same color as halos?”

“What?”

“You know, the halos that angels wear? Kurt’s eyes are that exact same shade of gold-yellow. I think that they are so beautiful.”
Rogue formed an ‘o’ with her lips before she could formulate a response. “Okay… why would that scare you and make you wish you would die?”

Kitty shook her head with a small smile on her face. “It took me forever to figure out what exactly it was about Kurt’s eyes that made me so uncomfortable. And then I realized one day that that was it.”

“So… Kurt’s eyes remind you of angels… and you’re terrified of that?”

“Well yeah. I mean, you can’t hide anything in the presence of angels, you know? Just like… like I can’t hide anything from Kurt.”

“Oh, Ah get it now.”

“Yeah. Every time he looks at me… I know that he’s looking right through me. Like he can see beyond all the bullshit that I put up around myself and sees… just me. And when I first met him… that freaked me out more than anything else and made me wish he would leave me alone so I wouldn’t have to learn to be myself.”

“He can see behind the mask that you have to put on for the world.”

“Yeah totally. All he has to do is look at me, and he knows everything I’m feeling. He’s the only one in the mansion who knows the difference from when I’m acting happy, when I’m actually feeling down. He knows when I’m sad, when I’m happy, when I’m pissed off about something… he just knows. And he always makes me feel like… it’s okay. I don’t have to put on an act around him… and it’s the best feeling in the world. I used to hate that feeling… but now… I look forward to it each day.”

Kitty had the most beautiful smile on her face by the time she finished talking. Matilda sighed sadly as she looked at Kitty with an expression reminiscent of a beaten puppy dog. “That is the smile that only appears when you’re in love.” She audibly growled in her throat. “He couldn’t have stuck around to hear that part?!”

“But it’s still a scary feeling, isn’t it? Knowing that there’s a guy who can see right through you?”

“Yeah. It’s partially why… I’ve been hesitant to try and get involved with Kurt.”

“You’re not sure you can handle not hiding anything from someone all the time?”

“Not exactly… just… I don’t know.” Kitty replied truthfully. “You know what’s ironic?”

“What?”

“His eyes look like an angel’s, but the rest of him looks like a demon (a very cute, blue, furry demon). I think that sums him up to a tee. An angel trapped in a demon’s body.”

“You know, they do say that the eyes are the windows to the soul.” Rogue smirked amusedly. “So does that mean Remy’s a demon trapped in an angel’s body?”

“I think it’s more like he’s got a devilish personality but a good heart.”

“Well yeah.” Rogue smiled mysteriously. “Ah think Ah have a thing for his eyes too.”

“Yeah, they are pretty cool looking.”

“Cool looking? Kitty, they’re gorgeous! They’re like little rubies sitting on onyx. Ah think his eyes are the hottest thing about him.”

“Hotter than his incredibly handsome face, perfect body, and excessively large…” Kitty trailed off knowingly.

“Well, those are all nice too. But his eyes just… they make meh feel weak. They have ever since we first met.”

“Oh my God! You know, I just thought of something!”

“What?”

“Your eyes and his eyes… they’re like total opposites!”

“What do you mean?”

“You know… where yours are white, his are black. Where yours are green, his are red. Total opposites! That is so cool; you two are so meant to be together.”

“You have no idea.” Matilda grumbled.

“Ah guess…” Rogue ran her fingers through her hair and stared at the ground.

“What? What is it?” Kitty asked, concerned about Rogue’s suddenly morose mood. “Oh no. You’re not doing the gloom and doom thing again, are you?”

“Kitty, Ah’m a goth, the world hates meh, and Ah can’t touch. Mah life is pretty gloomy and doomy.”

“There! You did it again! Why do you keep doing that Rogue? Why do you keep making excuses for not letting people in? It’s like you offer a taste of who you really are on the inside, and then you put your mask back on.” Kitty shook her head angrily. “You really are hard to get in to.”

“It’s not mah fault, damn it! It’s not like Ah intend to be the way Ah am! What, you think that some guy flirtin’ with meh is going to make meh open up and be bright and happy go lucky?! Ah am who Ah am, so accept meh that way!”

“You’re right, you’re not bright and happy go lucky and I wouldn’t want you that way! But I know you’re not as cold as you want everyone to believe you are! I’ve seen you Rogue. In our room, I’ve seen you crying. It’s almost every day you cry by yourself and it kills me to see you like that, okay?!”

“You’ve been spying on meh?!”

“It’s my room too, it’s not weird for me to walk in without knocking. Whenever you were crying when I came in, I would just leave you alone knowing that’s what you would tell me to do anyway! I’ve seen how sad and lonely you are Rogue! And I know there’s a kind hearted girl beneath the make up that just wants to be loved but because she’s so friggin’ messed up, she’s too proud to ever admit that! That’s the real you Rogue! I’ve seen her! Kurt’s seen her! Mr. Logan has seen her! And Remy has seen her! You know why I want you two together?! Because whenever he’s around, for five minutes you forget about the mask and you let out the real you, who laughs, and cries at sad movies, and likes hugs! He brings that out in you Rogue, and it’s not all that bad!”

“Are you finished?” Rogue said, looking tired. Kitty looked pissed when she said this. “Kitty, it’s not easy to take off
the mask. You said that Kurt makes you feel like he can see right through you when he looks at you? Well Remy can do the same thing to meh” She cast her eyes downward sadly. “He does see that girl that you were talking about. He thinks she’s someone worth while… but Ah’m not. And that… that makes meh hate him.”

“God, this conversation took a turn for the depressing.” Matilda rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in both her palms. “Eh… it could be worse. At least Rogue’s significant other isn’t listening in to the bad parts of this little chit chat…” Matilda sniffed the air. “That’s odd. Why would there be expensive French cologne out in the middle of the- oh crap!”

Remy stared at the ceiling of the tent, desperately trying to ignore the other tent that he was presently pitching. But that was impossible on account of the fact that he couldn’t get Rogue out of his thoughts. He was quite envious of Piotr, who was sleeping quite soundly. So soundly that he let out a very loud snore. Hence the other reason that sleep was failing Remy.

Pretty sure the girls would think he was less noble and heroic and studly if they knew that he snores. He thought. Then a loud, rude sounding noise came from Piotr’s side which caused Remy to turn his head to look at his former Acolyte buddy with very wide, shocked eyes. And that he farts in his sleep. That certainly took care of Remy’s “down south” problem, but it caused a new one to arise: the smell.

Remy would have laughed if he weren’t fanning the air close to his violated nostrils. That is the last time he eats venison on my watch. He thought. He waited a few moments, hoping for the smell to pass. When it didn’t, Remy felt his eyes start to water and realized that he should probably let the tent air out some. He clumsily untangled himself from his sleeping bag and then roughly pulled on his beloved trench coat. He fumbled with the zipper to the tent, doing his best to breathe through his mouth.

Remy breathed in the fresh air outside of his tent blissfully. Going to need a little bit more of fresh air, he thought as he pulled out his pack of Marlboro Lights and beat out a cigarette. He situated the cigarette between his lips as he walked to the designated smoking section of the campsite (right by the “facilities”) and began to fish for his lighter in his ever present trench coat. He held the small flame an not an inch from his cigarette when he heard, “…Remy can do the same thing to meh…”

The thief senses kicked in, as he replaced his lighter and pulled his cigarette from his lips and he silently stalked closer to where he heard that lovely Southern drawl speak. “…that makes meh hate him.”

Remy froze at her words. She can’t hate me… can she? He thought. He pressed his back against a tree that stood right at the entrance of the forest. He turned his head to the side, exposing his ear to whatever else she had to say.

“How could you say you hate him?” Kitty asked, surprised.

“Ah mean, whenever he’s around meh. Ah hate him. A part of meh does, at least. Ah know he means well, but…” Rogue looked towards the entrance of the forest. I thought I just… never mind. She shook her head and continued. “But each time he comes around meh, it’s like gettin’ a slap in mah face about how alone Ah really am.”

“But you’re not-“

“Don’t tell meh that Ah’m not alone Kitty. You wanted to have this conversation, and we’re having it. So shut up and listen. Ah am alone to some degree. Ah know Ah don’t have to be, but it’s been this way for a long time. Ah can’t just change it because some Creole charmer comes along and tries to convince meh that he wants meh for mah beautiful soul.”

“But what if he-“

“But what if he does really want meh for meh? Then he’s beating a dead horse, Kitty. He’s wasting his time. Ah could never be in a relationship with him because a part of meh wants nothin’ to do with him.” Rogue shook her head. “A part of meh hates him, and a part wishes that he would die every time he comes near meh. But he doesn’t realize how much it hurts for meh to be around another person who wants to be around meh.”

Remy looked at the ground. His face was tense and he could feel his skin burning. He was angry… and confused. More confused than angry, to be honest. He knew that she didn’t like him sometimes, but he never thought that… she hates him. She doesn’t want me around, he thought miserably. It hurts to be around me…? She would never be with me because she…hates me? Remy was fairly aware that he would go to great lengths to please the girl, and right then was no exception. If she wants me to leave her alone… then I guess the right thing to do would be to abide by her wishes.

“Noooooo!” Matilda called as Remy turned on his heels and headed back towards the campsite. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! She didn’t mean that! Turn around! Listen to what else she has to say, it can’t all be bad!” Matilda made a mad leap to try and grab the edge of Remy’s billowing coat but her short stature caused her to fall just short of it. She landed on the ground with her face right in the dirt. Simultaneously, she began to kick and punch the ground in her frustration. “Not fair, not fair, not fair, not fair!” She sat up with a huff not really caring about her dirt smudged face and resumed beating the ground with her little fists from her sitting position. “Why?! Why me?! I should have just gone straight into Heaven, forget this doing the world the greater good crap!” Matilda stood and stalked back towards the two girls. “Ugh! I’m going to kill Rogue for screwing this up so royally! She had better have a damn good excuse for saying that because I know how she really feels!”

“Well how does the other part of you feel?”

“Ah’m sorry?” Rogue asked, raising her eyes to her friend.

“The other part of you. You said only a part of you hates Remy. So how does the other part of you feel?”

Rogue smiled, though she didn’t show her teeth. “The other part of meh… reminds meh that Ah don’t hate Remy. Not at all. It reminds meh how much Ah love to be around him. It reminds meh of how he makes meh feel like just a normal girl. And Ah remember how beautiful he makes meh feel. How if possible Ah wouldn’t mind spendin’ most of mah day… not all of it, but most of it… with him and Ah’d be perfectly happy. He’s funny, and smart in his own way, and charmin’ and a little arrogant and incredibly good looking. Ah then realize that Ah don’t hate him at all… that in fact, Ah can’t get enough of him and his Cajun spice.”

Kitty squealed happily at the sultry grin that now adorned Rogue’s features. Matilda was practically boiling in the background of the trees. “Why couldn’t he have stuck around long enough to hear that part?! He’d be strutting around like an insufferable ass for the rest of the summer if he had heard this!”

“Then why aren’t you all over him like butter on bread?”

“Ah would be, trust meh, if it weren’t for these damn powers.” Kitty opened her mouth, but Rogue held up her hand before the girl could speak. “Kitty, please don’t say the ‘e’ word…” Rogue looked down. “… even if it is true.”

“Are you admitting-“ Kitty looked shocked to say the least.

“It seems Ah’m not as proud as you thought. Yeah, Ah do make excuses for mahself Kitty. It’s how Ah get by day to day. Or else Ah start to think about… everything that Ah’m missing out on.” Rogue shook her head and then looked at her hands. “Ah know it hurts Remy when Ah pull away from his kiss… but you have to understand that it hurts meh too.”

Kitty was silent for a few moments; she looked very deep in thought. “You know how you said that in your dreams the only thing you and Remy don’t do is kiss?” Rogue nodded. “Maybe… maybe that’s because you’re scared.”

Rogue raised an eyebrow. “Scared of what?”

“Of not being alone. Kissing makes everything so intimate and personal. It’s more of a sign of affection than anything else in the world. Maybe on a subconscious level… you never kiss Remy because you’re scared of finally letting someone in after becoming so good at being a loner. If you kiss Remy… it means that you finally admit that you care about somebody.”

Rogue chuckled skeptically. “So what? Am Ah afraid of commitment?”

“No.” Kitty shook her head. “I think you’re afraid of being hurt.” Rogue’s smile faded into a very serious expression. “And trust me… you’re definitely not alone in that department.”

Rogue’s shoulders slumped visibly. “Ah just can’t shake the feeling that…”

“That he’s going to hurt you?” Kitty finished. “That’s the risk every girl takes when they put their heart on the line. And sometimes you end up heartbroken, I admit it. But once in a while… you end up with the love of your life. But you never know until you try, right?”

“Kitty…” Rogue shook her head softly. “Ah don’t think mah heart can handle any more pain.”

“It’s just a chance you have to take Rogue. And it is scary. But sometimes the rewards outweigh the petty fears.”

“Take a chance on a guy… hmm?” Rogue pretended to look thoughtful. “Have you ever thought about following your own advice?”

Kitty chuckled lightly, and nodded her head. “I guess we’re both like two big chickens, huh?”

Rogue then made clucking sound in her mouth. Kitty laughed again; she grew thoughtful. “Hey Rogue… what would it take to for you to tell Remy how you really feel about him?”

“Besides an insanity plea and an overdose on painkillers?”

“I’m serious. What could I do to convince you to tell Remy you like him?”

Rogue turned her head thinking. “Ah don’t know… Ah would do it if…” A very good idea suddenly came over Rogue. “Ah would do it if you told mah brother how you feel on the same day.”

“What?”

“You heard meh. Ah would tell Remy, if you told Kurt that you like him.”

“Hmm.” Kitty rested her chin in her palm as she thought. A smile suddenly spread over lips. “Okay.”

“What?”

“Let’s do it. I’ll tell Kurt and you’ll tell Remy.”

“Kitty, Ah was kidding. Ah didn’t think you’d actually-“

“Oh come on. You already said that you would do it if I did it. And I’ll do it if you do it.”

“Then we’ve reached an impasse Kitty.”

“Not unless we both tell them.” Kitty said with finality and clarity.

Rogue sighed as she stared at her friend. “You’re really serious, aren’t you?” Kitty just gazed steely at her friend. Rogue inhaled and exhaled through her nose and scratched her head. She finally shrugged and said, “You know what? Let’s do it.”

Kitty clapped her hands over her mouth as she squealed delightedly. “Really?” She squeaked.

“Yeah. We only walk on this earth once (“Not exactly true” Matilda said), so Ah might as make a fool of mahself in front of the man of mah dreams. At least, Ah’ll have a friend making an equal fool of herself.”

“Exactly.” Kitty stood merrily and extended her hand to Rogue. Rogue stood and the two began to walk out of the forest. “I wonder if we will be waking them.”

“Kitty, let’s not do it tonight.” Rogue said, sounding surprised at why Kitty didn’t think of that earlier.

“Wait, tonight is fine! You should tell them tonight!” Matilda called to them; neither seemed to heed her suggestion. “If they don’t tell them right now, then those boys will have time to marinate in their self-loathing overnight and make things more difficult tomorrow!”

“We’ll tell them tomorrow. Then we won’t be in our pajamas and our hair and make up will be done.”

“Good thinking.” Kitty shook a little bit as she walked with Rogue. “Oooh, I’m so excited. I’m not nervous yet, I probably will be in the morning.”

“You should go to Kurt’s tent naked. Ah think that would give him a pretty good idea of what you want to do.”

Matilda watched them crawl back into their tent with almost disbelieving eyes. “What just happened? The boys are on the warpath to avoid their girls with a vengeance, and the girls take this opportunity to tell the boys how they really feel?” Matilda suddenly pushed her small hands into her hair and pulled at her roots. “Grrr! God this is frustrating! This is going to take some serious damage control, probably more than I have the patience for!” She began to pace in circles yelling madly at the sky. “Why couldn’t they have been around to hear the incredibly good part?! Why did they have to hear the irreversibly shitty part only?!” She slowed her pacing down, shook her head in disbelief and placed her hands on her hips. “I mean, they showed up right at the wrong time and left at the wrong time. Talk about bad…”

Matilda paused as she realized what she was about to say. The clarified look on her was reminiscent of a light bulb turning on from within her. “Bad timing…” She said softly. “Bad timing. Bad timing! That’s it! My problem hasn’t been idiot students and telepathic professors! It’s been bad timing! And that can only mean…” Matilda’s face contorted into one of blind fury. Her head turned back and forth quickly as she began to stalk around the camp ground, looking very intent about something. “Doug! Doug, where are you?! I know you’re here Doug! Just come out and show yourself, it’ll be easier on you in the long run!”

Matilda stopped at a point between Amara and Rahne’s and Jubilee and Tabitha’s tent. Her dark eyes narrowed and she looked between the two tents. Without warning, she reached out and pulled at thin air. But when she pulled, she somehow pulled a whole man out of nowhere.

He wasn’t really attractive: an unnaturally long face, thick black glasses, a messy mop of a bowl cut shape of blonde curls that had dark roots showing, and an incredibly lanky build. He was wearing black trousers and a yellow cardigan sweater that hung unflatteringly loose on his limbs. He looked very nervous and twitchy at that particular moment. “H- Hey Matilda. How goes it-“

“I knew it! I knew that there must have been a good reason why my plans continued to fail miserably, and now I know why! Have you been here since I arrived?!”

“Well… yes, I think I have.” Matilda raised her fist at him and he covered himself pathetically with his hands. “Oh give me a break Matilda! I was only doing my job!”

“’I was only doing my job’.” She taunted. “All you’ve been doing is making my job hella hard and setting me back at least a couple of days!”

“It’s in my nature! I am the god of bad timing after all!” Doug straightened up slightly.

“Oh don’t give me that crap Doug. Save it for an intern who might think that that title means something. In the meantime, you have to leave. I’m getting absolutely nothing accomplished with you around.”

“Matilda, I can’t just leave. You’re not the only one on assignment you know.”

“Oh please! The only assignments you get handed are to make disasters strike when a politician gets re-elected or something! Then you’re useful! But right now… no politicians, no interns beneath the desk, and no disasters. So right now, not so useful!”

“Matilda, I can’t go anywhere right now. I have very important work to finish up and-“

“If you don’t go right now, I will inform Judy who it really was that slept with Gladice at the Christmas party.”

“How did you-”

“I have my sources.”

“Matilda… you have to understand the direness of my position. If I were to leave now, I could be-“

“And I have pictures.”

“How did you get-“

“I have my ways.”

Doug opened and closed his mouth twice before turning to leave. “Oh and by the way…” She called to him and he turned to look at her expectantly. “You can forget all about a second date mister!”


*What night of hell is Kitty referring to? What changed Kurt so much? And what does it have to do with his father? Want to know what the heck Kitty and Rogue are talking about? I’m thinking of doing a prequel story to this one. Should I or shouldn’t I? Let me know.