Xavier Institute Courtyard, Wednesday Sept. 5th 5:36 pm

"Piotr?" The high school junior was much older at heart than her peers. She had almost witnessed the end of the world. She was trained in different forms of combat and martial arts. Katherine Pryde was a superhero. But she was good at hiding that. She was on her hands and knees now outside the institute, finding every excuse she could to be near the hulking Russian.

The juxtaposition they made in person was kind of funny. Even Logan (who welcomed no men around his X-Girls), had been caught a time or two snickering at the image. Piotr, though imposing, was as gentle as a lamb. Soft spoken. And almost as much of a pacifist as Professor Xavier.

"The strong must protect the sweet." He had told Kitty at dinner once. It had tickled her pink and he wasn't sure why. 'I meant you, Katherine.' He'd thought. He was agreeable, and level headed, and gentle; everything that Lance wasn't. But who was talking about Lance, anyway? Kitty wasn't. She was on her hands and knees with him, listening to tales about Russia and about gardening.

"We should have our own community garden. It came in very handy back home." Piotr suggested after a team Danger Room session. Kitty made sure she volunteered for the project. She was sweating in the sun beside him in a white v-neck and a pair of light denim boyfriend jeans. Every so often, Piotr snuck a glance at Kitty. He was just so in awe of her beauty. 'I can't believe she wants to hang out with someone like me...'

"Piotr?" She repeated. He had just been staring at her. He blinked sheepishly.

"Forgive me, Katherine." He turned away from her with a small smile.

"What made you ever be an Acolyte?" Her voice was small but she stared into Piotr's eyes. His gaze dropped to the upturned soil. He couldn't say he was surprised she asked. Kitty had given him a fair chance but she was entitled to her questions. They all were.

"I was wondering when you would ask something like this." He said, his accent strong. He sat back and looked into the sky. "Money." He said simply. Kitty examined a bag of seeds with her eyebrow cocked.

"Money, Piotr? Are you pulling my leg?" He chuckled softly, some new recruits laughing as they ran in the courtyard behind them.

"Not at all, Kitty-Kat. My sister..." His face became pained all of a sudden, and Kitty regretted asking. "She is at home. She is... Sick. Magneto..." Piotr glowered now. "He offered to help. With that. So Piotr..." He looked sheepishly at Kitty. "Didn't feel he had a choice." Kitty looked at the ground.

"I see. He was helping your family." She looked up at him with a small smile. "I knew it." He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Knew what?" She looked at him shyly.

"That you weren't like Magneto." He smiled back at her, butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

"Thank you... Katherine-Kat." He said nervously, kicking himself. She burst into sing-songy laughter and continued planting with him, their hands accidentally touching in the dirt.

Xavier Institute Mansion, Wednesday Sept. 5th 7:42 pm

Logan flashed a very uncomfortable smile as Professor Xavier dismissed his class to freedom. He waited until he had the telepath's undivided attention to speak. "Charles," He growled.

"Ah, Logan." He began, rolling beside him. He tried to ignore his restless mood.

"I wanted to show you somethin'." He said, his tone indecipherable. Xavier frowned.

"Right. Certainly, I'll come." He said, following the metal mutant to the Danger Room.

"I'm glad I changed the DR settings to record sessions automatically." Logan said, logging into the giant screen with his credentials. "I got a lot of forms to correct." He pulled up a video of a session and crossed his arms. "I was just watching through some of the taped sessions and... I found this." He clicked it and stepped back, watching Xavier's response carefully.

The Danger Room started up on an extremely high setting. In stumbled Jean not even in her X-Suit, but her purple shirt and khaki pants. Xavier frowned as the video showed her running into the exercise acting extremely strange. She was clutching her head and shrieking terribly like when she lost control of her powers. She ran to the middle of the room and unleashed so much psychic power it ended the simulation automatically with heaps of flames.

After panting for a few minutes she wiped her face and exited the Danger Room like nothing had happened. "Good god, Jean..." Xavier muttered to himself. Logan sighed.

"Yeah. Thought you might want to see that. What the hell is goin' on with her, Chuck? She seems right as rain every other time I see her." He said, disturbed he hadn't noticed a single thing was off about her until her saw the Danger Room log. Xavier shook her head.

"Because, Logan." He said. "There's a part of her now that wants to conceal her power. There's a part of Jean that exists solely because she is so powerful." He looked into Logan's face. "It's a phenomena that happens to unbelievably powerful psychics. She doesn't want to tell me she's struggling to control her powers because," He looked at him sadly. "Because subconsciously she does not want me to lock that power away." Logan swallowed.

"Are you telling me Red is getting power hungry?" Xavier shook his head.

"Not exactly. She doesn't understand what is happening. What feels fulfilling and good to Jean looks to us like..."

"Her losing control." Logan finished. Xavier sighed. He had been dreading this moment ever since she had dueled with Apocalypse. Her unlimited power was the reason they triumphed that day. But he knew it would cause them a lot more trouble later.

"I'll talk with her. I'll coax her into some exercises that focus on control." Xavier said wearily, rubbing his temples. Logan nodded.

"Yeah, cause that is a liability." He said gravely. "If something like that happens on a mission and there were news cameras..." Xavier bowed his head in thought. He had seen a lot of things in the mind of Apocalypse, Jean's growing power was far from their only problem.

"I know, Logan. It can't happen." He thought about his star pupil and success story sadly. 'Will I be able to do enough, Jean?' He shook the vision of her from his mind.

110 W 3rd St New York, Wednesday Sept. 5th 11:29 pm

Mystique changed to her normal form the second she walked into the house, staring at the middle aged woman in sun glasses with a pinched face. "It's getting late, do you know how long it takes to get here from Brooklyn?" She snapped with her arms crossed. She made her way to the other woman and placed a hand on the back of her neck. Destiny sighed with pleasure, Raven sure knew how to touch.

"Would I have rung you if it weren't important?" Mystique sighed. She knew what this call would be about. Rogue. She was the one common factor that always brought the two woman together.

"Get on with it." She say, her voice a hair softer. Destiny looked off with her unseeing eyes.

"It's Rogue. My visions..." Mystique took a seat across from her.

"Tell me, Destiny. What's wrong now?" Destiny shook her head.

"That's just it. I can't see anything for her anymore." Mystique's blood ran cold.

"What do you mean?" She slammed her hands on the table. Destiny shook her head.

"I don't know. This has only just happened recently. She's in danger, Raven. And I bet as long as she's with the X-Men she's going to be in a lot of danger." Mystique was gritting her teeth.

"Then we'll have to do something about that, won't we?"

Xavier Institute Mansion, Saturday Sept. 9th 9:14 am

"Guys! Hey!" Scott watched helplessly as ice, fire, lava, electricity, and god knows what else flew around in the Danger Room. He sighed and waited for the younger mutants to calm down.

For him and Jean, going away of to college after their Graduation fiasco wasn't an option. It was okay, becoming administrators at the institute and learning from Hank was just as good, right? Jean sighed. She felt like her head was expanding from within. The kids usually worked great with her. She was patient, understanding, and empathetic. But today she just couldn't get a grip.

"Guys, c'mon! We're almost done just listen." She tried, but they couldn't hear over themselves. Without even raising her hand with warning every pupil in the session started to levitate. Scott cocked an eyebrow.

"Jean?"

"Listen." She said in a strange voice.

"Jean, hey." Said Scott seriously. Jean shook her head and the students dropped to their seats, all quiet.

"Sorry." She said quietly, smiling sheepishly.

"I think we can wrap up here, anyways." He said after a moment. "You guys did good but you need to listen better, guys!" He cried as they all took off out the door. He shook his head and laughed. "Who would've thought we'd be here six months ago." He mused, standing closer to Jean. She wasn't listening. She was staring off into space thinking. Just thinking. Wondering what things would be like if she had no obligations and was just free.

"Jean?" She turned to Scott and smiled.

"Ah, sorry Scott. I was wondering if I finished the rest of Hank's homework." She said tiredly. "For a friend he sure doesn't issue homework like one." Scott snorted.

"Got that right. Are you feeling alright? You were a little spacey today." He asked, his voice small. Jean smiled.

"Of course. Just a little tired." They both waved as Rogue rounded the corner into the Danger Room, throwing her short hair into a tiny ponytail.

"Hey y'all." She drawled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Scott crossed his arms.

"Well look. You actually showed." He joked as Rogue cracked her knuckles. Scott was never one to be rude but he noticed that Rogue was missing her signature dark lipstick that morning, and he was staring. It was replaced with a more natural pink-ish red stain. "No black lipstick." He blurted out, feeling stupid in front of both girls.

"I told you and Logan I wanted to shadow on some sessions and get some practice." She said with a smug look. "And I lost a bet with Rahne last Danger Room session." Jean's mouth dropped agape.

"Rogue, you want to become a teacher after you graduate?" She asked in disbelief. Rogue nodded.

"Yeah, why not?" She answered, a small smile on her face. "I don't like many people, and most of the people I do like are here. Why go through the trauma of shipping myself off somewhere?" Jean nodded.

"Wow, I would've thought you'd be on the West Coast after June." Jean admitted with a nervous laugh. Rogue chuckled too.

"Trust me, me too. But..." She shrugged. "I guess it's not that bad." Scott nodded.

"Definitely could be worse. Jean, you wanna take this next group too? Rogue's gonna train with me." Jean opened her mouth to answer when she got a message in her head.

'Jean, dear. If you're done with you and Scott's training session could you come and see me for a second?' She shook her head.

"Well, the professor just called me so I'm gonna go tend to that. Good luck!" She said, waving as she headed into the institute. She changed into her comfortable khaki pants and a light blue t-shirt and headed up to his office. She knocked on his door gently before he asked her to come in. She smiled meekly and approached his desk.

"Hi, professor." She said warmly. He smiled at her, the same wounded smile he'd been giving her (and only her) since they'd triumphed over Apocalypse. It worried her. It made anxiety flare in her stomach like bile. She couldn't understand it. She had pledged her life and her abilities to his cause. She thought of him as more of a father than her own. Why won't he just fill her in? Stop torturing her. Stop insulting her by insinuating she wouldn't notice.

It drove her crazy. It was why she did whatever she could to avoid their 'sessions'. They weren't testing her at all. Each time the professor entered her mind she could feel how profoundly uncomfortable with her he was. He trusted her more after the first time she lost control of her powers, she didn't understand why. It hurt her feelings. She resented it. It made her want to throw a tantrum. A world ending tantrum.

"Ah Jean." He sighed. "Looking lovely as always." She settled in the seat before him, her hands placed neatly in her lap. "I just wanted to check on you and see how you were doing." He said with a smile pulled tight. 'Liar.' Jean hissed in her head. She shook the hostile thought from her mind. This was the professor.

"I've been okay. Teaching the new recruits is a little overwhelming sometimes..." She admitted against better judgement. Xavier nodded. "It's kind of hard, I guess. I don't know." She leaned back and smiled uncomfortably. "Seeing the new recruits train and work hard to evolve their powers." She looked sadly at Xavier. "I feel all the work we ever do now is keeping mine under control, not growing to meet their skill level." Xavier frowned.

"Oh Jean, of course I want you to get stronger. As I want all of my students to." She studied his face carefully. 'Is that a lie?' She thought. "You must also understand that you haven't merely plateaued. You are an incredibly strong mutant, Jean. An om-"

"Omega class mutant." She finished. "I know." He pressed his mouth shut. "I don't know if you've felt it, professor. But something's coming." She looked at him seriously. "I want to be strong enough to help." He nodded empathetically.

"I know, that is what we all hope." He said with a nod. He looked at her wearily. "If you wouldn't mind, Jean, I just want to make sure the mental shields I placed some time ago were doing fine. Always better safe than sorry." Jean gave a tired smile.

"Right." She said. 'But, why?' Xavier closed his eyes and focused, hesitantly entering Jean's mind. He tried to keep his mind clear. He tried not to influence what Jean felt or what she saw while he was in there but he wasn't careful. It was his anxiety. It was his dread. But she saw it.

She was surrounded with so much power it was blinding. She was screaming, kind of like she was in that Danger Room session nobody knew about. She was older too, but maybe not that much older. She was trying to hold her enormous power back. She was enveloped in an insignia of fire as it spread everywhere and she screamed, leaving Jean breathless once the vision was over. 'What was that?' She thought, replaying the vision over and over in her mind. 'Why did I see that? Was he thinking that?'

"Are you alright, Jean? You look flushed." He was watching her closely. Jean nodded and smiled.

"Yes, professor. Just a little tired." He smiled.

"Why don't you get some rest. You and Scott work awfully hard." She nodded and stood awkwardly, stumbling out of his office. Now she was just as uncomfortable as the professor always seemed. 'If he saw something like that about me he would tell me, right? He has to tell me.' She wasn't sure. If Jean did the math he started looking at her like that almost six months ago, after they fought Apocalypse. She looked at him unsurely.

"Sure, professor."

Xavier Institute Danger Room, Saturday Sept. 9th 12:11 pm

Piotr walked off carrying at least six Jaime's hanging out of him, all of them laughing. "Your ability perplexes Colossus." Piotr announced. Jaime laughed.

"Rogue," He called, obviously googly eyed for striped haired mutant. Rogue was kind of letting the different lip color grow on her. It was certainly getting her more attention than she was used to. Funny how changing one thing can do that. She walked beside Scott laughing, sneaking glances at him when she felt it was safe. "When are you gonna do another training session?" The boy asked excitedly. "Huh? Huh?" The older mutant shrugged.

"I don't know, Jaime. I got school and my own sessions to get through, y'know." The boy's resulting sulk made her roll her eyes. "I'm sure I'll find one to hop on next week." She said, smiling at Scott. He smirked.

"I've got six next week, you're welcome on any." Jaime grinned as he ran to the elevator. She and Scott watched as everyone cleared out. "You're doing great. Everyone of all ages responded really well to your energy." Scott praised. She tucked a silvery lock of hair behind her ear and fought the blush creeping on her cheeks.

"Flatterer." She joked, getting the elevator with him. He smiled.

"Jean was right, I thought there would've had to be some serious begging to get you to teach new recruits." He looked at her. "I'm glad you are. I'm proud of you." She avoided the forbidden fruit of his stare.

"Yeah, yeah." Said Rogue playfully as the elevator opened. "You and Jean just just don't wanna be left to fend for yourselves with them." She stuck her tongue out and continued down the hall towards her room. She caught Kitty phasing out of there, a shocked look on her face.

"Hey," She began. "There you are. Have you seen the news, Rogue?" Rogue cocked an eyebrow as she walked into their room to change.

"Uh, yeah. On the T.V in the Danger Room." She gestured sarcastically to her X-Suit. "What are you talking about?" Kitty chewed her lip apprehensively.

"You should change and come down to the living room." She didn't mean to but her tone sounded ominous.

"Alright? Gimme a sec." Rogue changed into black pants and a grey sweat shirt as she filed down to the crowded living room. She looked around in confusion. "What's goin' on?" Someone shh'd Rogue as she sat down on the arm of the chair Kitty was sitting in.

"Doctors say the effects begin working almost immediately after injection. Project: CURE safely and quickly eliminates the 'X' Gene which signifies a mutation differentiating the individual from a normal human being. For those who do not want to be registered if future legislation passes, this could be another option. Your abilities or mutations will be completely gone within 24 hours." The anchor on T.V. reported. "Starting tomorrow, Project: CURE will be available at all hospitals and clinics..."

Rogue dropped her phone in disbelief. Kitty looked up at her worriedly. "Rogue?" She turned and tore off upstairs without stopping to get her phone. Kitty frowned, picking it up.

"Rogue, wait!" Kurt cried. He teleported off to find her. Kitty sighed. 'Maybe I never should've mentioned anything...' She thought. She didn't think Rogue needed to change but she deserved the right to make her own choice. Logan walked into the common room and cocked an eyebrow. He could smell the tension and tight emotions.

"What's going on in here?" He demanded suspiciously, turning to the T.V.

"Project: CURE will cure a mutant mutation or ability painlessly, giving you a citizenship to humanity." The television droned. Logan shook his head in disbelief, shattering the mug in his hand.

"What the hell is this crap?" He snarled, but before anyone could answer he caught a scent that was no longer there. 'Rogue.' He thought. He hoped she didn't see the broadcast and he hoped she'd never consider something so foolish or stupid. He ran his claws in the T.V, dismantling it to the shock of the students. "T.V. time is done." He growled, stomping off to go make sure Rogue was okay.

'Logan,' A voice in his head interrupted him. It wasn't the professor's, but Jean's. 'I know you want to be there for Rogue but she needs to take time to process the information and have her own feelings.' She told him. He knew the girl wasn't prying. Ever since D-Day her powers were too large for one little body to contain. He learned to reconcile quickly with the telepath's powers crossing boundaries. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to chew her out. He never could.

Rogue might've been his favorite but he would drag her to hell and back when she got out of pocket (which wasn't often but when she did it was bad), but when Jean was crabby he never said a word. He didn't know why but the older she got, the better the indulgence looked on her. It was a complicated emotion. Maybe it was because even though Kitty and Rogue were hurdling toward adulthood, they were still little girls. To him, anyway.

He couldn't put his finger on it but one day he and Jean had woken up and she was woman. She was more than capable of taking care of herself and she didn't really need him to look after her the way the other girls did. She needed to be seen for the woman she was.

'She's sensitive, Red. Especially about this. I don't want her to get it in her head that she needs to do this. And besides, this could be a trap.' He countered back. The relations between humans and mutants were as precarious as ever. It wasn't outlandish considering this could be a holocaust level trap for mutants so desperate to try it. Logan had lived through the holocaust. The thought of desperate mutants being preyed on made his blood boil.

'Give her credit, Logan. She's tempered down a lot. She's not the loose cannon that came here.' She reminded. 'Especially after Apocalypse, she worked through a lot of stuff. After thinking about it she'll probably come to you, anyways. Your opinion matters to her the most.' The older mutant suddenly felt embarrassed. He wasn't sure why that would be the case. Still, he was careful what he said to Rogue and all the students.

He sighed. With Rogue he never liked to take the chance. But she was turning into a young woman, whether he liked it or not. And Jean was right.

'I'll keep an eye on her.' He compromised gruffly. Jean laughed in her mind but she was still linked to Logan, so he heard it. He smiled, it was one of few sounds that calmed him. Eased. Soothed him. 'Bub, what are you thinking?' He asked himself, hoping she couldn't hear. 'That's Red...' The inappropriate affections bubbled up his throat like bile. He was worried for Rogue but he couldn't not think about Jean's red hair, slapping him in the face and leaving the scent of fire wood and chamomile-

'She's lucky.' Jean mused, her warm voice thick with affection, her words interrupting his wandering thoughts. Logan sighed. He was worried about her. The professor wanted to err on the side of caution but Logan could never beat around the bush.

'And you. What's up with you, kid? Why do I have to see on the Danger Room logs that somethin's happening to your powers?' He questioned telepathically, his head voice soft. It was something Jean had really come to appreciate about Logan. He held no punches. For better or for worse, if something was on his mind he let you know about it. And she knew that sometimes she needed that.

'I don't know. I'm sorry. I just feel like if I try to talk about it to the professor or Scott... They wouldn't understand.' Logan nodded. It was something about a lack of control they they would find alarming. To Jean, sometimes, it felt necessary. Exhilarating. To be in control all the time felt like being dead. Logan understood it all too well to not really know what he was capable of.

'Wanna have a session about it, darlin'?' The was a lull for the first time in their psychic conversation.

'Yeah. Meet you down there in five.'

Xavier Institute Common Room, Saturday Sept. 9th 6:43 pm

Dinner was about to be served and still Rogue was nowhere in sight. She hadn't come to retrieve her phone. She hadn't contacted anyone at the institute, not even telepathically. Logan was stalking the campus ground obsessively, hoping she still had gloves on when she got there. Kitty sat at the table with her phone and waited, the longer it took the more convinced she was not coming back.

Jean followed helplessly after Scott as he paced around the whole first floor of the mansion. It was a terrible habit, the minute he became anxious he couldn't stand still. "Kurt," He tried again as the sun set. "What did she say, exactly?" He asked, his forehead wrinkled. Kurt huffed, recalling his failed attempt at comforting her.

"That she vanted some air," He repeated. "That she didn't want to talk. And she vould be back later." He sighed, burying his hands in his blue hair. "She's totally getting the cure."

"You don't know that!" Kitty cried angrily, squeezing Rogue's phone. Scott crossed his arms.

"She was just talking about staying on to train as a mentor. It wouldn't make sense for her to go and get her X-Gene removed. Especially," His expression became dark. "If it's over some guy."

Kitty and Jean exchanged glances, confusing Kurt and Scott. "Vhy... Else would she ever get it?" Kurt asked, trying to figure out what they already knew.

"It might not be just about touch..." Jean began hesitantly. "It's a big part of it, but-"

"You guys know Rogue. She doesn't like to dwell or complain too much but she was used to almost end the world." Kitty continued, her gaze solemn. Scott and Kurt's shoulders sagged tiredly. "I think that has a lot to do with her dedicating herself to the young mutants and making a serious longterm plan." Kitty theorized, running her fingers over her phone. "And even if she did get the cure..." Her lip quivered. " That doesn't make her any less of an X-Man!" She would never do it just so she could touch, she'd be doing it to protect us all!"

"Nothing that happened last summer was her fault." Scott said firmly. Kurt sighed, getting up from his seat.

"She clearly doesn't feel that vay." He said worriedly, looking out the window. Jean placed a hand on Scott's shoulder.

"She's not gonna do it, Scott. She just needs to clear her head." She reassured. 'She wouldn't get the cure...'

Metropolitan Hospital Center, Saturday Sept. 9th 9:26 pm

'Traitor!' 'Traitor' The psyches in her head screamed as she hid in the shadows, watching the line for the mutant cure progress. She had no idea what would happen to the psyches in her head if she got her mutation cured. Would they be an unfortunate after effect of being a mutant or would they cease to exist? They were in an uproar in Rogue's mind, bombarding her with insults as she tried to make up her mind.

'Traitor!'

'Enemy!'

'How could you?'

'Don't do it, there's nothing wrong with you!

'Weakling.'

'I wish I had kept a better eye on you...'

Touching, sex, love; it would be nice, wouldn't it? Those things aren't necessarily the first things a mutant teenager worries about. Rogue never wanted to be the key to resurrecting the end of the world again. She never wanted to put her friends and the world in such peril, again. She had been mind controlled. She hadn't meant it. But it didn't matter. Tell that to the child Rogue knocked unconscious.

That whole series of events showed Rogue how dangerous she really was. And it's something she had been thinking about ever since. 'I can keep raw doggin' life,' She thought. 'Try to find a way to control them. Try to figure this out. Or I can get them removed and I can never hurt anybody again.' She thought about Cody, who, as far she knew, was still in a coma. She sighed.

"Will I still be an X-Man if I do this?" She wondered. That's what she was most worried about. She tucked her green hood up and tried to steady her breathing.

"You won't get a chance to find out." Came a voice from behind her. She was stabbed with a needle and she went limp almost instantly, crumpling into Mystique's arms. She chuckled to herself as Sabertooth hoisted her on her his shoulder. 'That was easy,' She thought a little too soon. They were all surrounded by a potent gas. Sabertooth fell to one knee, coughing. Mystique tried to to cover her face.

"No!" She gagged.

"Got three on the perimeter. Yeah, muties. Yeah, come detain them discreetly so the rest of the freaks don't get spooked. Over." A voice said into a walkie-talkie. Mystique tried to fight against the sleepy feeling but it was no use. Her plan had been foiled. They were in big trouble.

Xavier Institute Mansion, Saturday Sept. 9th 10:32 pm

Logan came into the mansion finally, panting. He could tell by everyone's faces that Rogue didn't miraculously come home. His mood was sour. He was tired, sore, and worried. He blew into institute like a tornado and grabbed a beer wordlessly from the fridge. The team was five seconds short from suiting up to look for Rogue. That is, until they heard an ominous noise in the basement.

It was a strange rumble, soft but felt upstairs. It sounded like it was in the basement. Jean felt it before the others. It felt like one living signature just appeared on campus. It wasn't like when Kurt teleported, though. It was different. Confusing. She looked around before everyone began murmuring. 'Professor? Do you feel that?' She called out telepathically. He answered almost instantly.

'Yes, Jean. Yes I did.'

"Uh, Scott..."

Scott, Jean, Kurt, and Logan all exchanged glances.

"Did you guys feel that?" Kurt questioned skeptically. Logan sniffed.

"What the fuck was that?" He growled. Scott walked around them.

"Come on, let's check it out."