Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, X-Men:Evolution or any of its iterations.

A quick one shot – I thought of this when my wife was counseling a friend about her fiance being stubborn and how to deal with him.

This is not set in any particular season – just some undetermined date in the future.

Men Never Change

Kitty hung up the kitchen phone with a yell. "He's such a creep!" She banged the receiver into the handset over and over. "Creep, creep, creep!"

Rogue was sitting at the kitchen table behind Kitty and Jean walked in from the front foyer. Jean lifted an eyebrow at Rogue who nodded her head yes lightly. Oh yeah – intervention time.

Jean walks over to the refrigerator and gets out three diet sodas. Rogue says, "Kitty, can we talk to you for a second?" Though her thoughts were in a swirling turmoil, Kitty sat down and began to share her frustration. "I don't believe he's so stupid. How could he do this? Doesn't he know it drives me insane? Doesn't he care? He told me he wouldn't ever repeat that mistake and not three days later – he's at it again!"

Jean started in her most serious tone, "Kitty, there's something you need to know. Men never change."

Rogue chimes in, "They say they will but never do."

Kitty wrung her hands, "But he promised. He pinky swore. He said I could kill him if he did it again."

Jean tried again, "Take Scott as an example. He always has to be the knight in shining armor. No matter how many times an enemy tricks him with the old damsel in distress routine, he always falls for it hook, line and sinker." She began to wave her hands in the air while rolling her green eyes, "He's always there for me, but does he have to be there for everyone else too?"

Kitty recognized the scowl on Rogue's face and could hear her roommate thinking it behind her mental shields – 'cause we know it's all about Jean.

Jean sighed and then said, "Ororo told me it's just part of his nature to be like that. It's something I can't get him to stop doing."

Rogue, sensing Jean was done, said, "Then there's Remy. He always flirts with all the pretty girls and even the not so pretty ones when he feels generous. But I know he'll still comes home to me and is loyal to me. He doesn't do anything with them but he smells of their perfume or has a phone number in his pants pocket. He tells me he collects the numbers for the other guys who are still single."

Jean crossed her arms and frowned – if she had to hear about how he was God's gift to women one more time, she was going to pop like a big balloon.

Rogue went on, "Ororo told me it was something he did for others and that he didn't mean to hurt me on purpose. I've learned to just accept it for what it is."

Kitty had noticed Rogue didn't yell as much any more. She was glad that Remy had been so persistent with her friend.

Kitty took a long drink of her soda and pouted. "Are you really sure about this?"

Jean and Rogue looked at one another again. Jean said softly, "You know how Ororo really likes Logan, but he always disappears on his motorcycle when things get quiet around here?"

Rogue interrupted, "He runs for the hills every time she thinks she's getting somewhere with him."

Jean goes on, "A long time ago, we each had asked her about our problems with men and she told us point blank. Men just don't change."

Rogue completed the thought,"Never will."

Kitty thinks about her two friends who normally didn't get along at the same table working as a team to help her. "People can change, can't they? Like, look at the two of you. I never would have thought I'd see you together like this. Doesn't that count?"

Jean sighs, "You're missing the point." Kitty stares at her, unsure what the redhead means.

Rogue explains, "We're not men."

Jean, "You just have to learn to accept him as he is or move on."

Rogue, "Just be sure the next one isn't any worse.'

Jean, "Because men don't change."

Rogue, "Not anytime soon."

Jean, "Not in this century."

Rogue, "Or in this lifetime."

Kitty's head was spinning from the volleying back and forth between her two friends.

They sit in silence, slowly drinking their sodas. Kitty wasn't sure what bothered her more – the fact her boyfriend was such a dolt or the gas bubble that was building up in her stomach.

They hear the garage door opening and a vehicle pulls in. After the engine shuts off, a muted conversation gets closer to the kitchen. The door slowly opens and Ororo steps in, her hands full of groceries but she's facing into the garage while Logan's arm holds the door for her.

Logan says, "So we'll go see that chick flick after having dinner at the new Thai place you've been talking about."

Ororo smiles, "That sounds nice, thank you." Logan steps up and leans into the kitchen as he says, "And one more thing." He lifts her chin and gently kisses her cheek before disappearing back into the garage.

The girls sit in shocked silence – each one afraid to make a peep.

Ororo starts to put away the groceries while humming a recent popular love song to herself, obviously in her own little world. Kitty lets loose a huge burp – one the boys would have been very proud of, surprising everyone else. "Dear goddess, what was that?" Ororo exclaims holding her hand to her chest. She looks around spotting the three women are sitting at the table then asks, "Just what are you ladies up to now?"

Before her friends can say anything, Kitty asks, "Miss Ororo, do you think men can change?"

Ororo smiles in a mischievous way and says "I used to think it was impossible, but recently…," as she touches her cheek, "I've begun to change my mind about that. It's not easy or something that happens over night. You can't count on it ever happening, but it certainly is nice when it does."

She heads back to the counter to finish putting away the groceries, resuming her humming. The three girls glance at one another, then jump up and head off in their own directions, each determined to be the one to get her man to change next.

Author's note: My wife was trying to counsel a new friend of hers about entering marriage for a third time. With that kind of experience, you'd think her friend would know better but sometimes it takes an outsider to bonk you over the head with something that's in plain sight you don't see for yourself. I will freely admit I got lucky when I got married (just this once – knock on wood. And I was trying to post that statement on Friday the 13th of all days – maybe was down for that reason).

Am I still convinced men don't change? Sorry ladies that would be a yes – They don't. Unfortunately I've witnessed a lot of marriages fall apart recently over stupid stuff – that should have been seen coming.

I couldn't resist the twist with Wolverine in this story though – it just fit too perfectly.

As for not naming Kitty's boyfriend explicitly, I think it lends an interesting air of mystery to the story. Remember the point is men in general don't change – not any specific guy in particular.

Thanks for reading and if you would be so kind as to drop a review.