Author's Note:

I'm purposefully now making a change to the order of episodes in my AU. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me why they're the other way around. But I'm claiming that episode three is going to take place before episode two. I mean, let's examine. "Impact" clearly must have been summer. Obviously that's why everyone had so much free time on their hands for an international fact finding field trip. "No Good Deed" clearly has them back in school. That's where Scott picks up Sam and co. before going to the Subway explosion. But Target X is a lot fuzzier. Apparently Bobby and crew have time in the morning to go find Logan in a coffee shop. Also, I'd imagine that Scott and Jean would start teaching before they got busy with college. At least get something under their belt and in hand before they dump additional stress on themselves. Granted, "Sins of the Son" makes you start questioning Jean's dedication to furthering her education if she's taking off to Scotland instead of attending her Chemistry 101 class. So yes, I'm being nit-picky, but I don't care. But, I wanted to be clear that I'm purposefully rearranging the episodes and not just making a timeline mistake. Especially since I was so hard on myself for fixing one in the first chapter.

FYI:
I do not own the X-Men. If I did...season four would have made a hell of a lot more sense. Jean would have been away at college. And I mean away. Scott would have been sporadically present...and definitely still not carpooling to the high school. And there wouldn't have been such a lax attitude on class attendance in favor of going to other countries on non-immediate threat related things. It's probably no wonder Kitty and Kurt got sick, she probably brought the swine flu back from Mexico.

Chapter 2: Danger Room Escapades


Rogue squeezed her eyes shut tighter as the alarm beside her bed began to insistently beep. There was the sound of bacon sizzling on a skillet accompanied by the smell of burning plastic followed by Kitty's low curse, "A brokh!" This seemed to be on par with the first day of school for every year thus far. Rogue blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the pale light of Kitty's bedside lamp and stared at her own alarm clock that was still buzzing and beeping in its desperation to get her attention. She reached over and tapped it before rolling over to watch as Kitty frantically tried to pull the plug on what used to be an alarm clock/radio that was now spitting out black smoke and occasional a crackle of electricity.

She sighed as she sat up in bed and turned her attention back to her own alarm clock again and squinted at the buttons pressing them in the correct order to make sure that it didn't start to go off again in five more minutes. Meanwhile, Kitty continued to mutter darkly as she uttered Yiddish curses onto the already dead alarm clock. Rogue threw back the covers and slid her feet out onto the floor and watched as something fluttered to the floor beside her foot. She stood, then reached down to pick up what turned out to be a playing card featuring the queen of hearts. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear that these cards just magically spewed from Remy's essence. But she smiled realizing that she hadn't been dreaming after all.

She tucked the playing card into the edge of a frame on her bedside table picturing herself and Remy. Kitty had managed to capture the moment as Remy had tossed Rogue over his shoulder in a fireman carry. Rogue's face was a mixture of laughter and frustration as she pounded on Remy's back for him to let her go as he looked back over his other shoulder at her. She let her fingers trail over the edge of the frame slowly as her eyes landed on her X-Men uniform that was tossed casually over the back of her vanity chair.

She slipped into the spandex before digging in her dresser drawers to come up with her favorite pair of leather gloves. Putting on the soft, brown leather over her pale hands reminded her that she needed to ask Ororo if she could possible get a new uniform in something other than black. Green perhaps?

Glancing over her shoulder, she could see that Kitty was hopping from one foot to the other as she was getting into her uniform as well. For once, the early morning bird didn't seem quite as spry as she normally did. Granted, this training was coming earlier than usual and it also usually took a cup of coffee for Kitty to be at her most alert. For now, it was going to be a while before either of them saw coffee or breakfast.

Their early morning ritual of getting ready was carried out in near silence and they could make out the noise growing as the other students became more awake and restless. After a few more moments, there was the pounding of feet in the hallway as they began to make their way to the elevators quickly. No one wanted to be the last one to the Danger Room and attract Scott and Jean's attention to their tardiness.

Rogue didn't give a damn. They were only a year older than her and she'd be damned if she was going to treat them with even half the respect she afforded Logan, Ororo or Beast.

"Ready to face the music?" Kitty asked as a grin started to overcome her frustration from the alarm clock earlier.

"Not really," Rogue sighed. While she didn't plan to respect Scott and Jean as instructors, it didn't mean she could get out of training with everyone. She'd heard from the younger students how much of a bore the classroom studies had been and how tough they'd been as teachers.

They left their room and were nearly run over as Amara took off at high speed trying to catch up to the others. "Wait for me guys!" she waved her hand as Ray disappeared around the corner.

Rogue rolled her eyes at Amara's rush as they walked calmly to the elevators and reached them just as the doors closed on the younger students and they had to wait until it would come back for them. Rogue sighed as she leaned back against the wall and raised her eyebrows when she saw Remy and Piotr coming from the opposite direction. Kitty broke into a broad grin at the sight of her boyfriend wearing his uniform and bounded forward as she gave Piotr a flying leap of a hug. Even Rogue had to admit that Piotr made the uniforms look good.

But Rogue's eyes were on Remy whom she'd never seen in an X-Men uniform and a small part of her had been looking forward to this morning for that very reason. But, she supposed now, she would never get to enjoy that early morning vision as he had on his usual trench coat over a pair of black pants, knee high metal boots, a heavy black shirt that looked like it could deflect knives, and a silk shirt over that. In fact, there was hardly a difference to be seen between what he wore now and what he'd worn under the service of Magneto. She frowned realizing that this would most likely cause more than few minor problems with Scott. "Where's yo' uniform, Swamp Rat?"

"G' mornin' t' y' too, Chere," he said with a small wave and bow. "Dis be style," he said waving his hand down in front of himself and Kitty giggled. "Dat an' de spandex was restrictin'."

Rogue just rolled her eyes at his antics. "This comin' from the guy who wears leather pants," she sighed.

Their elevator came and they rode it down to the lower levels of the mansion. The Danger Room doors still stood open waiting for their arrival and inside they found everyone had already assembled. Scott and Jean stood apart from the group, even from Kurt, making a clear delineation that they were now in charge.

Kurt glanced their way as they came in and Rogue offered him an apologetic smile only to have him jerk his head away rather than make eye contact. She sighed in frustration as she too turned her attention towards Scott and Jean and wondered just how much all of this was going to their head.

She got her answer quickly. "Where's your uniform?" Scott asked when he saw Remy was wearing anything but. Scott's arms crossed over his chest as he took a wider stance like an animal attempting to make itself look larger and therefore more fierce. He didn't seem to notice that Jean's eyes raked over Remy appreciatively for a brief moment before her expression also grew just as stern.

"Didn' have no pockets, mon ami," Remy said reaching into an inner pocket of his jacket to remove a deck of cards and began to cut the deck and reshuffle it with one hand before revealing the joker as he smirked.

Scott frowned and shook his head unamused before turning to face the group as a whole. "Today's training is going to be about facing unexpected opponents. We never know who might take to Apocalypse's side. People are scared and as Mesmero has already shown us, there are those willing to follow him in hopes that they'll be spared." Scott pulled out a small remote from his belt and pressed a button and there was the sound of metal gears turning and the ground shook slightly as the floor parted and walls began to lift up from the ground.

Rogue sidestepped and found herself separated from Kitty, Piotr and Remy and cursed lowly under her breath as she turned. Kurt was standing just a few feet behind her and she hesitated for a moment. They hadn't really been speaking to one another for about a month and it had grown past awkward by now. Even though it'd turned out that Mystique wasn't really dead, Kurt still hadn't forgiven her yet. "Ah'm sorry," she said softly and Kurt just shook his head not ready to forgive her still.

"Let's just get zis over vith, meine schwester." Rogue nodded appreciating his cooperation, even if it was minimal. They were now standing in the middle of a giant maze, cut off from the rest of their classmates and after a few failed attempts to pick a direction, they started to make some progress that didn't result in dead ends.

"This is so lame," Rogue sighed. "Ah thought it was gonna end up bein' hard after all the complainin' that Bobby an' Ray did." Kurt just shrugged in response maintaining his overall quiet to Rogue's frustration and disappointment. She was used to the happy Kurt and this was just frustratingly bizarre by comparison. She actually missed his annoyingly jovial and playful moods.

They turned a corner and found someone ahead of them. After a moment, Rogue realized it wasn't one of their classmates and she grabbed Kurt's arm and held him back but it was too late. The figure turned to face them and it was Mystique. At least, it looked like old Mystique, not the version of their mother that Rogue had most recently seen which came as a small relief to her. She still wasn't able to come to terms with Mystique's changed appearance and attitude. She could handle old Mystique who was brutally upfront about her intentions, but this new Mystique had been far too quiet and unsettling. "'S jus' a robot," Rogue hissed when she realized that Kurt was still trying to backpedal away. "'S not her. Jean an' Scott are jus' messin' with us. Seein' what we'll do."

Kurt just violently shook his head, jerked his arm free of Rogue's grasp, and disappeared on her with a 'bamf' and left Rogue coughing on sulfur fumes as she silently cursed him for leaving her alone. Rogue found herself to be quickly drawn into hand to hand combat with the robot that easily had all of Mystique's fighting skills. She caught the robot by the wrist, twisting it around until she could hear the gears grinding against one another as the elbow was bent in the wrong direction. Rogue, planting a foot in the center of the robot's back, managed to bring the robot down to the ground and heaved a sigh of relief that she'd managed to not her her butt handed to her.

It kicked out though, knocking her off her feet and she let out a gasp as she fell onto her back and stared up at the robot now straddling over her. She instinctively removed her glove, reaching up and placed her hand on the robot's face, pushing it up but it was stronger than her and her powers were completely useless against robots. Suddenly, the robot began to glow a hot pink and Rogue panicked, shoving hard against the Robot and pushing it aside and barely managed to scramble up to her knees as she wrapped her arms around her head protectively. The robot exploded and she heaved deep breaths as she turned to look back at the pile of broken pieces of steel and shrapnel that were imbedded in the walls around her. She winced as she looked down and saw that there were a few in her too.

She gently tugged the metal shards free of her uniform and dropped them to the ground trying to ignore the red stains. Strangely though, she felt no pain. She checked the holes in her uniform to see that although they were ragged and touched with red, there was no wound hidden beneath them. She had already healed from the cuts and scrapes.

"Chere, y' okay?" Rogue looked up to see Remy running around a corner with Kitty close behind him. Apparently after they explosion, he'd had Kitty take a few shortcuts to get them to her location quickly. Rogue just gave him a feeble nod and he blanched slightly at the sight of so many holes in her uniform and the wrecked robot at her feet. "Qu'avez-vous fait?"

"Ah'm still workin' that one out fo' mahself," she admitted as she stepped into his open arms and welcomed the warmth and comfort of his embrace.

The walls began to lower around them and Piotr was running towards them with heavy, clomping strides as he let his armor fall before his steps became a little softer. He took Kitty by the shoulders making sure that she too was okay before glancing over to Remy. "They are alright?"

"I'm totally fine," Kitty answered for herself as she slapped Piotr's bare chest playfully. "You worry way too much. You on the other hand look worse for wear." It was true as Piotr was missing large patches of his brand new uniform. "What happened to you?"

"John," he answered simply.

"Pyro?" Kitty asked as her eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "Jean and Scott were using like everyone they could think of, huh?"

"Looks dat way, Petite," Remy said looking down to see that Mystique's head was still gently rocking back and forth on the floor near his feet.

The other students were now starting to circle around mystified as to why the training had been so abruptly stopped as Jean and Scott pressed through the group to approach. "Are you okay, Rogue?"

Rogue looked up at Scott and nodded before seeing the anger in Jean's expression. "Ah'm fine. It was an accident," she said calmly.

"You could have gotten hurt," Jean reprimanded as she bent over to pick up the remains of the robot's head. "There was no need for that kind of force."

"No, there was no need to pit Kurt an' meh up 'gainst Mystique," Rogue said defensively as she turned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Ya knew neither of us would handle it well."

"That was the point of the exercise," Jean replied coldly as she let the robot's head roll out of her hand and fall to the ground with a crack as a few more gears and bolts sprung loose. "And you've made it plainly evident that you aren't ready to deal with her anytime soon."

"It was a damn robot an' Ah know the difference," Rogue snarled. "An' like Ah already tol' ya, it was an accident. Ah didn' realize Ah still had some of Remy's powers left o'er."

Hearing his name, Remy looked back down at the bits of metal around him. It certainly explained how Rogue had managed to create such a fine mess. And her mysteriously nonexistent wounds could be explained too-Logan. She was tapping into abilities she'd borrowed long ago. Remy watched as Jean blanched for a moment and Scott quickly sidestepped between the two girls. He glanced down to see that Rogue's eyes had darkened, turning red on black in her anger. "Chere, y' need t' calm down. Dere's no need t' be mad 'bout it," he said sweeping an arm around her and attempting to spin her around to face him.

"Ah ain't mad," she snapped turning her dark gaze on him instead. "Ah'm pissed. She set meh up for a scenario in which Ah couldn' win no matter what. If Ah didn' beat the Mystique robot, they'd claim Ah wasn' ready ta be in the field. If Ah did, Kurt'll stay madder at meh fo' even longer." Kurt shirked at his mention, bowing his head as he studied the ground. She'd nailed that one on the head. "An now she's all upset b'cause Ah accidentally blew up a robot? Why the hell shouldn' Ah be mad at her?" Rogue quickly brushed Remy off and stalked out of the Danger Room and after a beat, Kitty took off at a run after her. Even when Rogue closed the Danger Room doors behind her, Kitty just phased through them in order to keep up.

"Dat went well, non?" Remy asked directing his attention to Scott and Jean. "Gambit understands why y' all enjoy de Danger Room so much. Excitement no matter what." When he didn't get any response aside from gaping stares, he turned towards the exit himself, his long trench coat flaring out behind him.

"Rogue! Rogue, wait!" Kitty called as she ran after her roommate and only caught up with her at the elevator. Her breath came in soft gasps from the added exertion so closely following the Danger Room training. "Kurt's not mad at you. Well, he's upset. But he doesn't hate you at least. He's torn."

"Ah don' care," Rogue muttered stabbing the button for the elevator for the third time in her impatience. "Let 'im be mad all he wants. It won' change nothin'."

"You know he just wishes that he could have a normal family, right? He totally adores you as his sister. He just doesn't understand why you're not as willing to give Mystique the second chances that he does. He'll come around, I promise." Kitty's shoulders drooped when she saw that Rogue wasn't really paying much attention.

"Ah don' care about Kurt right now," Rogue sighed finally. "Ah'm more pissed off about Jean an' her 'you ruined my perfect training session' attitude," Rogue said with a high pitched mimicry to her voice. "Ah'd love ta wipe that look off her face someday."

"Remy like t' see dat, Chere." Remy walked up behind Kitty and leaned his shoulder against the wall. "Run along, Petite. Remy got it from here." Kitty glanced up at Remy and after a moment nodded before hesitantly turning and heading back to the Danger Room to meet up with the rest of their classmates. "Y' better'n dis, Chere. Red ain't wort' y' anger."

"Don' lecture meh," Rogue sighed glancing up as the doors opened. "Ah'll get plenty of that fo' the rest of the day." Remy shrugged as he followed her into the elevator. "An' could ev'ryone stop followin' meh 'round like Ah'm gonna blow somethin' else up?"

"Don' t'ink y' gonna do dat. But it could be fun," Remy teased. "Didn' know y' still had ma abilities, Chere."

"Neither did Ah," she sighed as she leaned against the back wall of the elevator. Remy pushed the button for the dorm floor and they rode up in silence.

As they disembarked, Remy grabbed her by the wrist and spun her around to face him. "Not dat Ah'm mad, but why y' still holdin' ont' ma abilities, hahn? An' Logan's?"

"A-Ah don' know. Logan's always seem ta linger. They're usually not as strong or fast though."

"Y'd tell moi if y' were havin' troubles, corriger?" Rogue nodded and Remy smiled gently before leaning down to kiss her forehead. He gently pushed her in the direction of her room and gave her a solid smack on the rear causing her to skip forward as she shot him a look back over her shoulder that could have been interpreted as either anger or amusement. "Y' go get ready. Remy see y' at breakfast, Chere," he said with a wink before turning to go back to his own room. They had just parted ways when the elevator doors opened and half of the other students came pouring out as they were trying to get back into their morning routine as quickly as possible.


Rogue was almost to the kitchen when she heard the professor's voice in her head summoning her to his office. She squeezed her eyes shut and cursed under her breath in true Southern fashion. She asked God to bless his soul followed by a few other choice words. She was so close to her morning coffee and bagel that she could smell it.

Reopening her eyes revealed Remy to be standing before her, a mug of black coffee in one hand and a bagel already spread with strawberry cream cheese wrapped in a napkin in the other. "Y' lead de way, Chere," he said holding them out in offering to her.

Rogue just blinked before gratefully accepting them and gave Remy a warm smile. "Thanks, Sugah." He flashed her a wide grin in return as he wrapped an arm around her waist as she started to walk, drinking deeply of the dark, bitter liquid. By the time they'd reached the professor's office, she'd finished her coffee and was halfway through her bagel as Remy held open the door for them to go inside.

"Take a seat, both of you please," the professor said with a small wave of his hand. "I didn't necessarily want this to wait until after you returned from school, so you'll have to forgive me for taking the time now."

Rogue was halfway on the road to forgiveness as she held up the bagel in explanation as to why she wasn't nearly as cross as she could have been. The professor just smiled as she took another nibble.

"About this morning's training," the professor started and Rogue nearly choked on her bagel. He hesitated as she coughed for a moment before regaining enough of her composure to give him the stink eye that clearly warned him to tread softly. "You demonstrated that you're able to recall abilities you've borrowed in the past," he continued, "I was wondering if you were struggling with your psyches again as well, Rogue."

Rogue blushed and avoided meeting Remy's curious gaze as he watched her closely. He'd not heard about this before now. "'S fine," she said finally. "Ah've been usin' the techniques ya taught meh ta keep 'em under control. Ah guess that Ah might subconsciously be tappin' inta a few of 'em though. But Ah'm pretty sure Apocalypse wiped meh clean. There's only Logan an' Remy up there an' that few doesn' usually result in any problems."

The professor rested his chin thoughtfully on his hands and nodded. "That's good to hear, Rogue. What I might suggest is that you do a little extra training in order to better understand how to control these powers so that it's not just a subconscious act. That way you'll have more confidence to use them at your will and command." Rogue groaned but the professor seemed unaffected by her apprehension as he directed his attention to Remy. "Remy, would you be so good as to train with Rogue after school? Since she demonstrated your abilities this morning, I think it would be a good place to start. Do you're best to explain how your powers work and how to control them."

"Bien sûr, Monsieur," Remy said with a nod of his head before standing. "But we best be goin' now or we be late t' school."

"Of course. Enjoy the first day of classes."

Remy smirked as he reached into an inner coat pocket and pulled out a dark pair of shades and put them on. "Oui, we bein' jus' dat."

Rogue just looked up at Remy surprised by his response as he'd put the sunglasses on. Surely he was still at least a little upset about her request that he cover up his eyes. Instead, he seemed to be making a point of it to the professor. Then it dawned on her, he was demonstrating to the professor that he intended to play by the rules, his way, but nonetheless by some form of the rules. He must have realized that he'd irked Scott that morning enough that it may lead to problems. She took the hand that Remy offered her and stood up remembering at the last second to grab her empty mug as they left the office and were finally able to head out the door to school.