Wooow, it's been some time since I've written any 'proper' fanfiction (there are oneshots and drabbles on tumblr but nothing great) and now I'm finally getting back into the swing of things...maybe? I'm still not 100% sold on the idea of making this fic a long-term commitment due to my webcomic schedule, but I'd like to prove to myself that I can still write for my fandoms in a semi-professional way.

This fanfic idea was prompted by this tumblr post www. lochcamaen . tumblr post/105041064852/tickatocka-i-really-want-an-i-accidentally and prodded by my best friends. If you want more, let me know by leaving a review.

I wrote this chapter with X-Men Evolution in mind, but it's really a mixture of the general Marvel universe. Evolution's just the main inspiration for the look and feel of the X-Men characters used.

Onto the story! Enjoy.

The blinking red flash of 7:06 AM was the first thing Anna Marie registered when she slowly blinked open an eye. The second was the insistent whispers of Kitty to wake up and something something.

The third was the sudden urge to punch her room mate for waking her up so early on a Sunday when she had no work shift for once.

"Kitty, whaaat...?"

"Oh, finally!" Kitty sat up from the bed, bouncing on her heels and twiddling with the edges of her tattered pajama sleeves. "Thank God, something's really wrong."

"W-What...?" Anna pushed herself up from her mattress with one arm as the other gently rubbed at her eyes. "What's good 'bout wrong...?"

"You know what I mean!" Kitty squeaked before quickly covering her mouth and darting her eyes to the door. Anna managed to groggily stink-eye her while kicking off her sheets. "Anna–"

"N-No no noooo... Ya woke meh up early, it's Rogue."

"I-I wh–" The brunette curled her fingers into fists and resisted the urge to screech by pursing her lips into a tight line. She continued to bounce, waiting for her best friend to stand up. Stupid friggin' nickname with stupid friggin' rules!

"Okay, Ah have risen..." Anna yawned and stretched her arms out, nearly hitting Kitty in the head. Probably on purpose. "What the hell is the problem?"

"I heard noises in the main room earlier but Lockheed was with me so it wasn't him which means someone is in the apartment and he ran off and hasn't come back and I–"

Anna covered Kitty's mouth and motioned for her to breath. The smaller girl did so and slacked her shoulders as Anna lifted her hand away. The Southerner sighed and rubbed her forehead. Lockheed, the resident tom cat in their small apartment, was much loved by both women (and the neighbours seemed fond of him too) but Kitty loved him like he was her first born child or something. She could still feel the burning hole in her bank from all the emergency trips to the vet clinic when he was a kitten. Kitty worried too damn much.

But now Anna was worried about something else entirely.

"Ya think someone broke into the apartment?" Kitty nodded. "Did ya leave the window open again?"

….

Another nod.

"Kitty–"

"I knoooow." The Illinois girl pouted and whined, feeling her full guilt. "But Lockheed needs to go out at night."

"Not the point." Anna held a finger up and sighed again. "How long ago did ya hear noise?"

"10, 15 minutes ago? It was a voice, like a guy's."

Anna adjusted her sweatpants, then grabbed a wooden baseball bat from behind her bed header. Kitty gave her a disapproving look.

"Rogue, you broke Bobby's nose with that thing. I think that's overkill."

"Ya wanna chance there bein' a rapist in our place?" Both eyebrows rose and Kitty slouched in defeat. Anna slung the bat over her shoulder, then tip toed her way towards the door with Kitty following close behind. "Ah'm gonna peek in quickly, an' if there's a guy we're callin' the police. We'll climb out the fire escape 'fore they get here."

"Plan. Roger roger."

The two crept out into the cramped corridor and checked around for any warning signs before slipping down to the far end. Rogue kept her grip tight on her bat, crouching down slightly as she came near the wide crack in the door. She hadn't heard any sounds yet, not even of the bell from Lockheed's collar. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign yet.

She kept Kitty in her spot as she pried the door open more with the end of her bat, praying under her breath that it didn't squeak. Someone up there must've felt kind, since it kept silent the entire time. Anna squeezed her head through the gap, giving herself full view of the tiled kitchen and the living room just past the island...

…That was entirely empty.

"Kitty, no one's here."

"You sure?"

"Ya, I am!"

"Fils de salope…"

Anna and Kitty both gasped sharply and clung to each other's arms, frozen still in fear of being spotted by whoever spoke. Anna, now fully awake and alert, sprung up onto her feet and held her bat up with white knuckles.

"Get the phone."

Kitty only nodded, letting go of her and crawling back the way they had come while Anna stepped into the kitchen fully guarded. Keeping her breathing low and her footsteps light, she reached the island to hear a few more muffled phrases. One of them included 'piss off, cat', which meant that Kitty was going to be ecstatic very soon.

Anna peered around the island, squinting her eyes to better her view of the living room. She caught a shadow moving by the couch and breathed a sigh of relief when she recognised the shape of Lockheed's tail. He wasn't in any immediate danger, thank heaven. That seemed to catch the tom's attention as he turned away from the couch to catch her eye and meow loudly.

An arm then grew from behind the couch's armrest and swatted at Lockheed, who seemed only mildly annoyed by the attacker. Anna was far, far more than that.

"Jesus Christ–!" She threw down the bat and slammed her fist down on the light switch for the entire room, casting out the shadows and revealing the anonymous man lying face down on her couch. Anonymous shirtless man to boot.

"Kitty Pryde, there's a hobo on our couch!"

Kitty burst into the kitchen at that moment and skidded to a stop, holding her phone in hand only to drop it once Lockheed mewed at her.

"Locky!" She swooped him off the floor and hugged him tightly, burying her face into his Russian blue fur. Anna swatted her shoulder and growled loudly.

"Hobo!"

"N...Not a hobo..."

The two women snapped their heads over to the couch resident, who was now attempting to sit up and run a hand through his tangled brown hair. Anna made a move to grab her bat again when he finally lifted his head up to meet their gazes.

"...Y' not Pete."

His tired, hungover brown eyes (Rogue could've sworn they glinted red for a second there) searched them both and he repeated himself, thumping his head onto a couch cushion. Kitty stood confused as Anna stormed over and poked him with her bat.

"Who in the hell are ya?! We'll call the cops if ya don't get out!"

"Merde, moi head..."

"Well?"

The man lifted his head up again, narrowing his eyes at Anna as he scratched his 5-o'clock shadow. She returned the glare, daring him to refuse her again. Kitty came up behind her, holding Lockheed close as she studied the stranger before them.

"I honestly t'ought dis was Rasputin's place." He closed his eyes and rubbed them, groaning in displeasure. "Obviously not."

"Rasputin's our neighbour." Kitty stroked Lockheed's head and glanced up at Anna. "One door up. He's the painter guy...?"

"Oh yeah." Anna nodded to her and kept her bat up in the guy's face, much to his chagrin. "Still didn' answer mah question, drunko. Who the hell are ya?"

The man groaned again and shifted, poking the bat away from him with a finger. He cracked open one eye and smirked – somehow not looking like a diseased rat despite the greasy hair, baggy eyes and growing beard; that only irked Rogue more – offering a hand to them.

"Name's Remy LeBeau, mademoiselles. Désolé 'bout all dis, won't happen again."

For anyone reading that's read my older works on here that are currently on a long hiatus, I'm not currently planning on going back to them just yet. It's been a LONG time since I've touched them and the plots need a lot of re-working; my style has changed significantly; there are things I've foreshadowed and forgotten about and/or dropped from the story completely; etc etc. TimeScape is my biggest project and I still think about it every damn day. It pains me to not be able to write it, and I would if it wasn't such a complicated story; I have such big plans for it, so big that I probably could never get 80% down in writing.

I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself clearly enough, but just so there's no confusion: No plans to return to old fanfics as of December 2014. I'll write up something if that changes in the coming months.

Review and favourite!