This is a not for profit X-Men Evolution Fanfic by Remedy=Chill; And he don't own nothing but he soul mon ami.

Vacancy

"Jean!" The Professor barked softly. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Jean gasped, exhaled and hung her head.

"Go to bed Jean." He said sharply before adding a concerned "Please."

Jean bit her lip and wavered in front of the door. Every instinct she had told her to ignore him, push through the door and . . .

And what? She asked herself.

"Yes Professor." She said, not meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry." And concerned. . . She added mentally.

"I understand." He said, and immediately regretted it when he felt her anger roar to life like a great and devouring blaze.

"As much as I can." He added quickly. "Now go to bed."

Jean turned her back to him and stalked down the hall away from the infirmary. He could feel her fighting the anger down, although he knew it might take a while.

Xavier turned his attention back to the door. He could feel Hank within, his options exhausted and his frustration held in check only by his resolve to be useful when, and indeed if, his patient showed any signs of improvement.

And then there was Rogue. Only a faint glimmer of life seemed to remain within the girl. Not even enough for him to detect emotions or awareness from her. It was more like the soft background noise of a soul than a soul itself.

He had of course seen this one time before.

When Jean had first come to him as a child she had telepathicly experienced the death of a close friend.

The result had been the same spiritual catatonia. And in the end it was not Xavier that had pulled Jean back from the brink. Oh, certainly he had been there, reaching and calling, but it was Jean who had heard, listened, and in the end, decided to live.

It was Charles Francis Xavier's greatest hope that as Jean's power passed from Rogue, she would recover. The waiting, however, had long since grown tiresome for all involved.

The mansion was quiet and uneasy that night.

Rogue had drained Jeans powers while Jean was being manipulated in a scheme to recover the first key that would unleash Apocalypse. Jean had crumpled under the slightest touch. Her manipulator had abandoned her at that moment, leaving her completely psychicly and emotionally open to the world in a way that it is not safe for a telepath to be left.

From Jeans perspective there was a momentary flash of a painful memory and then, just the bitter aftertaste of Rogue's mind. A hollow echo that hinted and insinuated at vague arrangements of ideas, all of which would vanish when focused upon. It took almost a full hour for Rogue to manifest the same symptoms and collapse in to her coma.

"Why don't you take your own advice Chuck?" Wolverine was concealed within the shadows at the end of the hall. His arms were crossed and he was leaning with his back to the wall.

"Logan. You startled me. I didn't even sense you there."

"Because you're tired. Mostly." He chewed on an unlit cigar.

"Mostly?" Xavier asked, betraying his exhaustion in his voice.

"Mostly." Wolverine's eyes were nothing more than tiny slits that glinted from within the shadows. "I was being sneaky."

Xavier smiled despite himself. "Well done." He went to wheel himself in to the room.

"Go home Chuck." Wolverine told him flatly. "Go to your room, and go to bed."

Xavier could see Logan's thoughts flickering within his mind. He was prepared to take the Professor back to his room by force if necessary.

"All right." Xavier conceded softly. "You'll wake me?" His eyes betrayed a soft glow of hope.

Wolverine studied that glow with a realists eye. Eventually he seemed to soften. "Sure." He said finally, wincing at the disbelief in his voice. "If there's any change." He added.

Xavier turned his chair slowly and began down the hall. He stopped before the end.

"Logan." He said over his shoulder without looking all the way back. "Thank you."

Wolverine snorted once. Xavier knew that it meant he was welcome, and he continued around the corner and out of sight.

Logan slid slowly down the wall and crouched on the floor, resting on the balls of his feet. He put the cigar in his pocket and instead began chewing on a toothpick.

"Oh, darlin." He said to the closed door. "Just – wake – up." He resisted the urge to go down to the danger room and hit things. "You've got a lot of good folks waiting on you."

Logan looked expectantly at the door. When it didn't open, he leaned back and settled in for the night.

Jean climbed the stairs slowly. It was the quiet and the stillness of this end of the mansion that had originally sent her off to the infirmary. For all the good it would have done. After all she chided herself, what was I gong to do, yell at Rogue?

Not that she didn't want to yell at Rogue on occasion, but no more than anyone else, not really.

Jean slowly crept down the hall. She stopped in front of Scott's door. There was a soft light coming from under the door. It took her a second to realize that it wasn't an electric light. It was swaying slightly – A natural flame.

She took two steps closer and raised her hand to knock.

But then she heard him. " . . . And you know that you've given me more than I could have hoped for in the last few years, a home here – with Xavier, a purpose, even my little brother back – alive and healthy. So much in fact, that I don't feel right to ask anything for myself. But . . . Rogue's a good person, and she's really been trying, so please, God?"

Jean pulled back quietly and froze in place.

"I just know she isn't done with this life yet. . ."

Jean took two hasty steps backwards, retreating from earshot out of self-defense. She stopped short of bumping in to a table in the hallway and took a breath to compose herself. Suddenly the quiet of her room didn't seem all that uncomfortable and she started again, down the hall.

"Kurt!" A hushed voice called down the hall.

"Kurt!" It said again.

"Kitty?" Jean whispered.

"Oh, Hi." Kitty whispered, slipping through Kurt's door. "Have you seen Kurt?" She asked in a hushed tone "He was upset about Rogue and I thought I should check on him." She paused. "But he's not here." She eyed Jean suspiciously. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

Jean counted off her fingers as she spoke. "No." She said, showing the first finger. "I hope he's okay." She counted the next. "And I'm on my way." She smiled wanly and presented her third finger.

"Gotcha." Kitty nodded. "I'm going to check the garden."

"Good luck." Jean whispered and waved as Kitty passed her.

Kurt heard them talking, soft muffled voices within the house. He just didn't feel like being found.

Kurt lay, stretched out, on the roof of the mansion. It was a cool night but he didn't mind. Kurt took a deep breath and watched the clouds roll across the moon.

"You know," He said out loud "Life is like the sky." He nodded in silent agreement with himself. "The stars make you think that nothing will ever change." He felt tears welling up inside. "But the clouds remind you that nothing ever stays the same."

He stared out through the night. "How do we live like this?" He asked himself in disbelief. "Always having to deal with both extremes?"

He shook his head and refocused on the stars above and thought of Rogue. "I never had a sister." He said.

He sighed, feeling the sting of tears in the back of his eyes and tasting them in his throat.

He closed his eyes and thought of Rogue. He brought her face clearly in to his mind and smiled. He saw her laughing. "I hope you're a star." He spoke out loud again.

Kitty phased through the glass doors at the back of the mansion followed the path down to the garden. Once, in the dark, she had walked right past Kurt, because she had mistaken him for a gargoyle statue. She knew he liked the garden, but tonight she didn't see him.

She took one last look around. The soft moonlight played tricks with the colors of the garden. It was really quite peaceful.

She sat down on the cold bench and looked down towards the lake. The moon and clouds were reflected in the rippling water. She took a deep breath and stood up slowly, brushing herself off.

Silently, and deep within, she was asking for a sign. Desperately she wanted some hint that things could end up all-right. Without that, well, without that she fully intended to find and comfort Kurt until it arrived.

She turned slowly and watched the path as she walked. When the mansion was again in view she saw a soft glow coming from one of the rooms.

"Scott?" She asked, counting the number of windows from the left side of the mansion. "What are you . . ."

But she saw soon enough. A moment later she was directly outside Scott's room, looking up to the second floor.

He had left a candle burning in his window.