Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or trademarked content in this work and make no money off of its publication. I do, however, appreciate the owners lending them to me for an adventure or two.

Forward

There's a theory in quantum physics that time is immutable. It's like a river: you can throw a pebble in and create a ripple, but the current always corrects itself. No matter what you do the river just keeps flowing in the same direction.

-Hank McCoy (Beast), X-Men: Days of Future Past

Prologue

Lunchtime at the Xavier Institute for Higher Education was an animal house.

Well, maybe not literally since Beast had left for Washington, but he had really loved that salad bar. However, with mutant children of every age and variety running roughshod over the place, lunch time still felt pretty close to survival of the fittest.

One benefit of being a teacher instead of a student, Kitty Pryde reflected, was being able to get here five minutes early and snag a table off to the side before the horde arrived. She never really had much trouble with crowds considering she could literally walk right through them, but she appreciated the head start anyway.

"Is this seat taken?"

She looked up and met the silly, lopsided grin of Bobby Drake. With a cool look, she shrugged. "Help yourself." She glanced around. "Where's Rogue?"

He paused at that. "Don't know. Talking with Logan, I think."

That explains why he's here, Kitty thought bitterly, before shoving that away.

Bobby forged ahead with his famous tenacity. "But anyway, you looked lonely so I figured you could use a dose of my illustrious company."

That won a small smile from her. "Good word."

"I read," he bandied back at her, appropriating her well-used justification.

She chuckled as she scooped a piece of lasagna into her mouth. "Not often you get to use that one on me."

"I know! That's why I couldn't pass on the chance! But," he pronounced, "that's not what I came over to ask you."

She looked up, surprised to find his piercing blue eyes fixed on her. She felt herself coloring lightly. "Then what did you come over to ask?"

"Yeah. What did you want to ask, sugar?" Rogue broke in as she sat down next to Bobby. "Hi Kitty," she acknowledged.

"Hi Rogue," Kitty replied uselessly, as Rogue had already turned away and planted a kiss on Bobby. Kitty glanced aside awkwardly.

After several long, uncomfortable seconds, Kitty mumbled an excuse and got up from the table. Once, just once, she wished she could have her best friend back. With the Bobby she knew, even silence had never been uncomfortable. She knew Rogue and Bobby were excited that Rogue was finally getting her powers under control- and she tried to be happy for them, she really did- but it was getting harder every time Bobby passed her over when Rogue appeared. And she was tired of being hurt by it.

Bobby broke off from Rogue. "Kitty, wait-" he said, but she was already walking away.

"What's the matter, Bobby?" Rogue said, using her hand to turn his face back to her. "Did I interrupt something important?"

"I was trying to talk to Kitty," he confessed. "It feels like she's been avoiding me lately."

"Well," Rogue said, running her hand up his arm, "I don't see why she'd do that. Handsome man like you..."

He shrugged her off lightly. "Please Rogue, not now: this is serious."

She recoiled, regarding him through narrowed eyes.

He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but something's wrong here." He stood and picked up his tray. "And whatever it is, I have to fix it.