Disclaimer: Well, here's the next chapter of the story, and guess who gets introduced. Actually, you could probably expect quite a few introductions, but I'll never tell. As before, I don't own the rights to the X-Men.

Chapter II
New Arrivals

Warren Worthington III soared high above the Xavier Institute, ever carefree and proud of his mutation. Mutation wasn't the right word. Gift was a much more appropriate term to describe his natural set of wings. They earned him the codename Angel, and never was there a young mutant more deserving of such name. But Warren wasn't thinking about his codename. He was thinking of and watching the white limo drive up to the front entrance of the school. At first, Warren believed it to be his father, come to attempt to convince Warren to return home for the umpteenth time. Why couldn't that man just accept that his mutant son was happy with the X-Men? Warren saved him from being killed by a group of renegade mutants. Perhaps his judgment gave way to his curiosity, because Warren flew down toward the front of the school. The limo pulled to a stop at the front door, while Warren landed gracefully on the steps. The chauffeur walked around the front of limo toward the back, getting a full view of Warren's wings but paying him no mind.

"How're you doing?" Warren greeted the chauffeur, who simply walked past him.

The chauffeur opened the back seat door. While Warren half expected to see his father, again, he was surprised to instead witness an incredibly beautiful woman step out. Seriously, this woman was by and away, gorgeous. She was dressed head to toe all in silvery white clothing. Her platinum blonde hair cascaded down to her shoulders. Even her lipstick was a silvery shade. Warren was understandably awestruck at the sight of this beauty. The woman in white took in the view of the school and mused to herself. Apparently, she didn't seem impressed. She didn't seem to notice Warren staring at her. But she knew he was.

"Driver," she said. "You may leave now."

The driver nodded and returned to the driver side, while Warren greeting the woman. "Um, welcome to the Xavier Institute. I'm Warren…"

"Warren Worthington III, also known as Angel," the woman blatantly cut Warren off. She seemed to speak with an English accent. "I know who you are. I'd like to speak to whoever currently runs the school."

Warren started, "Then you're looking for…"

Again, the woman in white cut Warren off. "Ororo Monroe, also known as Storm. Could you please inform her of my arrival?"

"Why do want to see Storm?" Warren.

"My reasons are none of your concern," she said. "Just tell Miss Monroe that I wish to speak with her."

The woman walked past Warren as if he didn't even exist. Warren cocked his eyebrow and shook his wings. Any ongoing positive interpretations Warren had thought were blown out of the sky by the woman. The woman seemed unusually snobbish, almost arrogant and maybe a little conceded. She also apparently knew what Warren was thinking, which meant she must've been a mutant like him. A telepath most likely. The woman stopped about halfway up the steps. Silence followed before she turned toward Warren.

"Since you're thinking it, my name is Emma; Emma Frost."

Logan stopped short of the Rogue's room and knocked on the door. "Rogue? Rogue, it's me. Storm asked me to talk to you," No answer came from the room. "I know you're in there, kid. I can smell ya. C'mon, open up," Still, no answer came from the room. "Have it your way, kid."

Logan turned and started to walk away, and it was only then that the door opened. Rogue stood in the doorway and it was then that Logan noticed the shortened hair and eye shadow. Logan couldn't say he was thrilled to see this new appearance of Rogue, but he wasn't her father so he couldn't judge. Rogue didn't even seem to smile upon seeing Logan and simply turned away. Logan let himself into the room, and that was the first time he noticed the almost loaded backpack on the bed.

"What's with the baggage," he asked. "You're not thinking about leaving, are ya?"

Rogue didn't even bother looking at Logan, instead continuing to stuff the backpack. "What do you care?"

"I care; I just tend not to show it." Logan uncharacteristically quipped.

"Unless it was around Jean!" Rogue pointed out.

Logan was actually taken aback by the comment. "Hey, that's not fair, kid…"

Rogue threw something onto the bed and turned sharply toward Logan. "No, me still being in this school; that's not fair. My life here's been miserable ever since…"

"Since you took the cure," Logan finished the statement. "Listen, you're the one who made that choice, Rogue. Not me!"

Rogue sighed and sat on the bed, defeated. "Yeah, and now I'm regretin' it. I never thought I'd actually miss my powers."

Logan leaned up against a wall and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So, you figure you might as well just pack up and leave."

"Why not," Rogue asked. "It never stopped you from leavin' the first time around."

"Rogue, that was a different story," Logan pointed out. He knew Rogue was talking about when he left for Alkali Lake. A lot of good that did him, at first anyway. "Look, I'm not gonna pretend to be your dad. If you're gonna leave, I won't stop you. Just make sure it's for the right reasons."

Rogue didn't say much else after that, so Logan left her alone. The conversation did give Rogue quite a lot to consider. Nothing had gone like she'd hoped in the aftermath of her taking cure. For one thing, Bobby broke with her in favor of Kitty. She'd also felt like a fifth wheel among the rest of the team. This despondency must've been what Cyclops felt over Jean's supposed death, before he was himself killed. So what reason did Rogue to leave at all? None of them were very good ones. Meanwhile, Logan was stomping down the hall when he stopped suddenly. He sniffed the air and knew someone new was in the school.

"I do appreciate you taking the time to speak with me, Mr. McCoy." said the mysterious Emma Frost, sipping a cup of tea.

Hank sat across from her. "The pleasure is all mine of course, Miss Frost. But, I'm sure you'll understand if I'm still somewhat skeptical. I find it hard to believe you want to teach here."

"Well, look at what the cat dragged in," exclaimed Ororo, leaning in the doorway with a not-so pleased expression. "I'm surprised you bothered to come back at all, Emma."

Emma smirked at Ororo, and she placed her tea cup on the table. "It's nice to see you too, Ororo. How long has it been? Five years? Ten years, perhaps?"

Ororo entered the room, not removing her gaze from Emma. "I really doesn't matter, because it obviously wasn't long enough! What're you doing here?"

"Is it not obvious," Emma asked. "I'm here to offer my assistance in teaching the newest students of the institute. And, perhaps help you find any just emerging mutants in the world at large."

"I knew it. You haven't changed at all, Emma," Ororo said. "Your being here has nothing to do with the students. You just want access to Cerebro."

It took some time but Hank was able to insert himself into the conversation. "My apologies for interrupting, but I think I'm entitled to an explanation. How do you two know one another?"

"Miss Frost here used to be a student at the institute," Ororo said, not taking her eyes off of Emma. "That was until she became arrogant and overconfident that she could surpass the professor, and started demanding that she be allowed to operate Cerebro."

"I see!" Hank managed to say.

"That would be your story, Ororo, and of course you'll be sticking to it," Emma said. "The fact remains that you need a telepath to operate Cerebro, and since Prof. Xavier and Jean Grey are dearly departed, I'm really your only option."

"Who's the girl?" sounded the familiar grunt of Logan.

Emma looked at Logan and again, smirked at him. "Hello, Wolverine. Are you still trying to piece together your past?"

Logan was absolutely taken aback by the woman in white. "You know me?!"

Emma stood up and came face to face with Logan. "I know more about you than you do yourself. Let's leave it at that. Now, I believe I'll be requiring my own quarters."

Ororo sighed to herself. "Alright, Emma! We'll let you stay; for now! But if you try anything underhanded, even look at the students the wrong way, I will personally blow you out of this house."

"I'm sure you'd like to, Storm," Emma said before meeting Bobby and Kitty at the doorway, the former of whom was enamored by the sight of the self styled White Queen. "Mr. Drake, could you be a dear and help me with my belongings?"

Bobby's jaw dropped. "I'd be more than happy to, Miss Frost."

"You can call me Emma."

Bobby felt like he was literally going to melt and he quickly gathered Emma's belonging. Kitty was glaring at Bobby and Bobby said, "What? She knew my name!"

"She's a telepath," Kitty spat at Bobby. "She knows what you're thinking."

Another day had come and gone at the Xavier Institute, and most if not all living there had gone to sleep for the evening. The intruder waited in the bushes for the better part of the day, perhaps longer still since Emma Frost had taken up residence. As he'd decided beforehand, the intruder laid low until the stars filled the sky. The moon was out in full but clouds were present as well. The intruder would no doubt that use to his advantage. In time, the clouds moved and blocked the moon from view, and the intruder made his move. He sprinted toward the outer wall and he pole vaulted up and over using a staff. The intruder moved silently across the quad, careful to avoid tripping any alarms until he reached a first floor window. He examined the window and found a latch on the inside. The intruder traced the glass with his finger, and using his mutant powers, drew a happy face. The window cracked and the intruder reached in and unhooked the latch on the other side.

The intruder slowly opened the window and quietly entered the institute. "They makin' this too easy!" His voice suggested he possessed a very strong Cajun accent.

The intruder moved through the school, slowly, stealthily and without drawing attention to himself. Obviously, everybody was sound asleep and unaware of the intruder's presence. Everybody, except for Logan, who was stirred out of yet another restless sleep. He was dreaming about Jean again, and the heart wrenching decision to save her by way of killing her. Logan sat up in his bed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Speaking of which, he took a sniff of the air and knew right away that someone was in the mansion that shouldn't be. Logan got out of bed and began stalking the intruder, claws extended. The intruder continued his stealthy movement through the halls of the mansion and came to a stop round a corner. He crouched down and listened very closely for any faint sounds. Logan was waiting on the other side, ready to strike at a moments' notice. He recognized the scent but couldn't pinpoint from where he'd last smelt it.

You ain't welcome in my house, bub! Logan thought, and then he made his move.

Logan rounded the corner and found nothing, but the scent was still there. That meant the intruder was still present. Logan heard a faint crackling and looked down at the floor. A small object was all that was there, but it seemed to glowing. Logan took a closer look at the object and it appeared to, of all things, a playing card; specifically, the Ace of Spades. The card suddenly exploded and threw Logan back into the opposite wall. The intruder dropped from the ceiling in front of Logan.

"Well, well, look who I found," the intruder said, speaking as if he knew Logan. In a way, he did. "I gotta be honest; I did not expect to see you again."

Logan raised his head a glared at the intruder. "Do I know you, bub?"

"C'mon, Logan! I'd think you'd recognize you old friend, Gambit," Logan lunged at Gambit and slashed at him. Gambit was able to avoid but the claws slash through the dark brown trench coat he wore. "Aw man, this is was my favorite coat."

Just then, Ororo showed up at the sight of the commotion. "Logan; what going on?"

"That's my cue to exit," Gambit quipped and he sprint back down the same hall he came. "Let's do this again some time, Logan."

Logan picked himself up and turned to Ororo. "Keep the kids safe. I'm going after him."

"You know that guy?" Ororo exclaimed.

Logan was already halfway down the hall when he shouted, "How the hell should I know?"

Gambit rounded the corner into the next hall rushing passed numerous students who'd been stirred awake by the commotion. At one point, Gambit even passed directly through an apparently sleepwalking Kitty. Logan was steadily gaining ground on Gambit, while at the same time trying to figure out knew Gambit knew him. Gambit ran passed Bobby's room, then Jubilee's and then Emma's. Emma in particular seemed somewhat indifferent as Logan sped passed her. Gambit was coming up to the pine railing and, reasoning that it would've taken too long to simply go down the stair, pole vaulted over the railing. He landed on the lower floor and briefly looked back, and then made for the front door. Gambit was surprised to see Rogue of all people standing in the doorway. Rogue was just as surprised.

"Hello there, cherie," Gambit greeted Rogue, even kissing her gloved hand. "Remy LeBeau, at you service."

From above, Logan came lunging from the balcony to the floor below. Gambit readied himself for the forthcoming assault. He dropped to his back and pointed his staff straight up. Logan landed gut first on the staff, and Gambit unleashed his mutant powers, charging the staff with kinetic energy. With momentum, Logan was actually jolted and thrown through the front door to the outside. Gambit sauntered outside and stood over Logan, whose body was smoking after the last attack.

"Well, Logan, as fun as this was, I really need to be on my way," he mocked. "Drop me a line next time you in New Orleans."

Gambit turned toward the mansion to bid farewell, and Rogue was standing right in front of him. He was ill prepared from what happened next. Rogue placed her hand on Gambit's cheek and Gambit suddenly felt weak. Logan was just coming to when he saw what he never expected to see. The other X-Men arrived in time to see Gambit collapse to the ground before them, and Rogue standing over him in utter astonishment. She checked her hand and it crackled with kinetic energy identical to that of Gambit. The X-Men were in shock, but none more so than Logan.

"Rogue?!"

Author's note: That's should finish Chapter II, with the introductions of Emma Frost and Gambit. They won't be the last. be sure to review and I get back to you soon. Adios!