A/N: Hey guys, I am SO sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, I rewrote it so many times and I'm still not too happy with it, but I thought I should at least put something out and maybe in the future go back and edit it.

Thank you to everyone who's liked, followed or left a comment, it means the world that people actually have faith in this story and me, I'll try my hardest to make you proud!

Like always, I own nothing but the story line, even though I'm sure it's been done countless times. Any comments or suggestions are always welcome (Do I sound too desperate?) Anyways, I've said enough, I'll shut up now. Enjoy the story!

After three days on the road, I'd finally arrived back in Bayville, New York. It was strange being back here and as I climbed out of my shabby pickup truck, I noticed the mansion was under repair, a blue tarp covered one of the large bay windows and the corner of the building looked like it had been blasted off.

I knew from Logan that Xavier had shut down the mansion as a school; he wanted it to be a safe haven for young mutants, but since it doubled as the X-Men's base, it was the target for numerous attacks from the Brotherhood, other pissed of mutants and the new anti-mutant group, Friends of Humanity, so really it was no place for children; now it was purely X-Men business. At least it'd be a bit quieter.

"Rogue!" The wind was knocked out of me as my old roommate Kitty Pryde ran into me and gave me a tight hug.

"Hey Kitty, I missed you, too," I laughed as I patted her back and then pulled away; she hadn't changed much in the six years I'd been gone; still the small little bundle of excitement with her hair in a high ponytail that swung with her movements.

"Oh wow, look at your hair," She noted, the smile on her face was a nice, familiar sight.

"Yeah, I kinda got sick of dying it and straightening it." I used to have to get up two hours earlier than her to work on my hair; it was naturally curly and it took a lot of work to get it in order, if I didn't dry it properly after the shower, it'd look like an afro. As for the color, I'd like to think I'd gotten over my gothic faze, and went back to my natural red.

"You look totally different! Like in a good way, though, you don't look so scary anymore," Kitty stopped, her bright blue eyes widening slightly. "Not that I was scared of you, or anything, but others totally were. Want help with your bags?"

"Nah, it's okay, only got the one," I replied, going round the back of my truck and retrieving my small rucksack from the backseat.

"Is that seriously all you have?" Kitty's eyebrows pulled together and I rolled my eyes but smiled.

"Yes, unlike some, I don't need fifty dresses and two hundred pairs of shoes." I mocked and headed toward the front door; Kitty skipped along beside me. I tried to hide the nervousness I was feeling as I open the door and walked inside.

Standing in the lobby, memories flooded my head of my time here; when Bobby slid down the banister and ended up breaking his arm, running around after Kurt when he ate the last of my cereal, I know that my time here wasn't all bad, there were some good memories; but I'd felt like I was in a cage; just sitting around waiting for the next fight.

The strong smell of sulfur signaled the arrival of my furry blue little brother, Kurt, he smiled at me, showing his sharp teeth, but there was a hint of sadness in his yellow eyes.

"Hey Rogue, I'm glad you're back, I didn't believe Raven when she said you were coming," Kurt had definitely had a growth spurt since I'd been gone, at a guess, he'd have to be at least six foot one.

"What can I say? Mystique really sold it to me," I replied lightheartedly, but instantly realized my mistake when both Kitty and Kurt's face fell.

"You're only here because Mystique spoke to you? I thought you were just coming home," Kitty asked, coming to stand in front of me to look me in the eye.

"Does it really matter? I'm here to help with Sinister," I muttered, feeling mightily uneasy. "Look, I've had a long drive here, I'd like to get some rest. Where am I staying?"

"Jean's old room is empty, I guess you can stay there," Kitty replied, but the energy from her voice was gone, after speaking she walked off toward the kitchen. So glad to see Kitty still gets offended over the smallest thing.

Turning to look at Kurt, I opened my mouth to speak but he got there before me. "The Professor will probably want to talk to you." He mumbled and then bamfed off before I could say anything else.

"It's good to see you again, Rogue," The Professor said as soon as I walked into his office. Driving over here, I kept running through my mind the things I wanted to say, I wanted to have a go at Xavier for keeping tabs on me and for telling Mystique where I was, but as soon as I entered the office, I felt nothing but relaxed and happy to see him again; maybe that was his doing.

"Same to you; it's strange being back though, especially since there's no screaming kids running down the hallways," I mused, sitting in the seat in front of his desk.

"I assume Raven has informed you of our problem," O…kay, so straight into business, that's fine, I can deal with that.

"Yup, Mr. Sinister, hopped up mutants, evil intentions to take over the world, the usual," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"It's a little bit more than that, I'm afraid, Rogue," Xavier sounded more tired than usual, the wrinkles on his forehead more pronounced; had he just aged that much since I left? Or was this Sinister thing taking its toll on him? "He seems intent on collecting powerful mutants and not just giving their mutations a boost, but also giving them new powers."

"Mystique did tell me about the ones you've already come across; did they really down Colossus?"

"Yes, Mr. Rasputin was incapacitated to quite a serious degree; Hank had trouble treating him because we couldn't get him out of his steel form, but he's recovered well, already back in action." The Professor wheeled himself around the desk to be by my side.

"You've gotten control of your skin," he said, his eyebrows furrowed. "How did you manage that? We worked for two years and didn't get anywhere near control."

"Oh, I don't know, I was just meditating a lot, maybe being away from here, being somewhere where I could just focus on myself for days on end without being disturbed might have helped. But it sure was a surprise; I mean, I was concentrating so much I thought my head would explode and then something just snapped," I let out a small laugh as I clicked my fingers to emphasize my point. "The first thing I did was run out into the street and touch the first person I came across; nearly gave the poor old woman a heart attack."

The little smile on my face disappeared at Xavier's concerned expression, I was about to ask what was wrong, but he spoke before me; people have to stop doing that.

"I'm sure you had a tiring journey here and you'll want to rest; Jean's old room has been made up for you," I took that as him dismissing me, so I left without another word.

Why did I find it funny that I was given Jean's room? The girl I used to envy so much it hurt; she seemed perfect in every way, smart, popular, pretty; the things I'd never been. Scott's interest in her just made it worse. Four years ago, before I left, I'd finally gotten over my little flame for Summers and in turn, my jealous of Jean, not that I ever tried to bridge the gap between me and Grey.

As I walked down the once familiar hallway toward the room, I wondered if Kitty had kept our old room; I'd left a few of my things, mainly because I packed in under twenty minutes when I decided to leave. Just as I arrived at Jean's old room, I heard a door a couple rooms down open, I turned and I felt my heart stop for a second.

There stood Remy LeBeau, the person who brought so much frustration and excitement into my life. His hair was a little longer, almost brushing his shoulders and it looked like he'd bulked up a little bit but not in a way that he looked like a body builder. His strange, striking eyes bored into me for a second, before he turned back around into his room and slammed the door, making me jump and come back to my senses.

I wanted to talk to him, tell him that I had missed him and explain why I ignored his calls; but how do I start? And would he even listen to me? I sure wouldn't. I shook my head and entered my new room, throwing my backpack into the blue arm chair in the corner of the room.

Looking around the room, there was no indication of who the past occupant was, I doubt I'd be staying around long enough to make the place my own. I let out an indulgent sigh as I sat down on the soft double bed, it was a massive improvement on the lumpy piece of shit I'd been sleeping on the past few years.

I unlaced my boots before sprawling out on the bed, the exhaustion of the past three days crashing down on me. A thought drifted through my mind that I should probably drop in on Logan. It can wait, he'll understand, he knows how much I need my sleep.

The last musing in my mind was what I'd say to Remy, I knew I'd have to talk to him sooner or later, but he's always had a way of making my mind blank, whether it was with his terms of endearments or one of his devilish smiles, maybe Kitty would help me out, lord knows she owes me it with how many times she asked me for advice with Avalanche.

"Wakey wakey, Rogue, dinner time," I cracked opened one eye to see my blue elf of a brother smiling down at me, I guessed that he wasn't still upset over my earlier comment about being here.

"Great, I'll be down in five, gotta change," I mumbled out, my voice thick with sleep.

After I'd changed into a dark green turtle neck and light blue jeans, I made my way down to the dining room. My steps did falter slightly when I realized that Gambit would probably be down there; Don't worry about it, Rogue, what's he going to do? If he says anything, I'll deal with him, thanks, mental Kurt.

Even though the mansion was no longer a school, the noise in the dining room could've fooled me, the loudest voice was Bobby, of course, closely followed by Jubilee. I took a deep breath before entering the room, while I'd work a lot on coming out of my antisocial shell, I still didn't like being the center of attention.

"Rogue! You're finally returned, huh?" Bobby greeted, his mouth full of food. I gave a small awkward smile and offered a halfhearted wave. The rest welcomed with smiles and comments about how they missed me, it took all my self-restraint not to roll my eyes. Even Jean said she was happy to have me back here. Remy wasn't anywhere to be seen, not that I was looking for him.

I took the empty seat in between Kurt and Rahne and within seconds everybody had went back to their previous conversations, the momentary "excitement" of my return had passed, thank the lord.

"Hey, where's Logan?" I asked to no one in particular as I helped myself to some apple juice; my stomach rumbled as I looked at the food, it'd been a while since I'd had a proper meal.

"Him and Storm are in New York City, trying to get some more allies." Kitty answered from her place across the table from me. "They're always off somewhere asking for help."

"The more help, the better, I hate to say it, but we're out of our depth here," Scott said, his tone conveying how it pissed him off to have to outsource help. Yeah, I know I had a crush on him, but I'd realized just how much of a sore loser he was, at least when he lost it just made him try harder the next time.

"How come Mystique hasn't gotten the Brotherhood to join our ranks?" I didn't care to ask where my adopted mother was, she'd said she was going to England, maybe she was still there.

"Mystique abandoned them to join us; Avalanche, Blob and Toad are still causing trouble, but we've got bigger fish to fry right now," Kitty informed me, I didn't miss the way she said Avalanche, was she seriously still hung up on him? I thought she'd moved on to the Tinman.

"What about Pietro and Wanda? Or Boom Boom?"

"Tabitha's just dropped off the map, but the twins? You won't believe me but they're members of the Avengers now, rubbing shoulders with Captain America, being heroes and all that."

"You're fucking kidding me? Did someone knock their heads together and make them see sense?" I stared wide-eyed at Kitty, how just shrugged.

I knew that Captain America had been brought out of the ice, they'd finally managed to find the cure to save him; that phone call was the first time I'd ever heard Logan sound so happy and it warmed my heart that he'd gotten one of his closest friends back, friends were something Logan desperately needed.

After the little catch up session, I focused on eating as the others had conversations around me, I sometimes chipped in but for the most part I kept quiet.

While drinking some of my apple juice, Kitty kicked me under the table and quite hard, I glared at her before looking over to where she was gesturing with her head. Gambit had decided to join us. I wasn't unaware of the way things quieted down or the looks that were being shot between me and Remy, but I ignored them, just kept on eating.

He took the seat next to Jubilee and started a conversation with her, seemingly ignoring the looks, too. Of course, everybody knew what went on between the two of us and I wouldn't be surprised if people thought I left because of him, that obviously wasn't the case, well, not fully.

The rest of dinner went by uneventfully, Remy didn't say anything or even look at me and I just spoke to Kurt, Kitty and sometimes Rahne before making my excuses and retiring back to my room. I took the time to empty my backpack and put away the clothing, not that it took me that long, five minutes and I was back to sitting on the edge of the large bed, staring blankly at the pale green wall in front of me.

Leaving here was such a big leap, for years I'd been wanting to change myself because I wasn't happy in the slightest, but after being on my own for a few months I realized I still wasn't happy, I thought that maybe I was just an unhappy person, so I tried to change that, too; become more sociable, try and get some friends, it wasn't easy but I committed myself to the whole 'fake it 'til you make it' and I guess it did work slightly, I did make some friends back in California, not ones that I'd necessarily contact now that I'm here in New York, but ones that I could talk to and go out with while I was there.

It might be more difficult trying to pull off my new persona here, mainly because the people here know me already, they know how problematic and mean I can be. But am I really intending to stay here once the Sinister debacle is over? It's a nicer place to live, I don't have to worry about having food, paying rent or having heating, all I have to worry about is getting out of a mission alive.

A gentle knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts; in the few seconds it took me to get over to the door I went through a mental list of who it could be; not Kitty or Kurt, they just come in, just like Gambit would, not that he'd be visiting anytime soon.

Jean stood on the other side, looking slightly nervous but still with a kind smile on her face, one that I knew I didn't deserve, not with the way I treated her when I was here last.

"Hey Rogue, I was hoping I could speak with you,"

"Uh, sure, come on in," I felt sort of stupid that I had to invite her in to her old room, but unlike some in the mansion, she was polite enough to respect others' space.

She sat in the armchair in the corner and look around the room. "What was I thinking choosing that shade of green? Any plans to change it?"

I rubbed the back of my neck as I sat on the edge of the bed facing her, feeling a bit uncomfortable around her. "I don't think I'll be staying here long enough for that."

"Oh, that's a shame, I know how much it means to Kurt and Kitty to have you back; they were heartbroken after you left. Logan missed you, too, not that he'd ever admit it, but he'd always be looking out the window in case you came rolling up the driveway."

"I'll admit, I missed them, too, but I don't regret leaving, it was nice to be away from it all, work on getting my head sorted." Yeah, I know lying is bad, but that's technically only half a lie, I did do some work on the mental side of things and finally had the breakthrough I'd been dreaming of for years.

"Anyways, not what I came to talk about. Gambit." The look on my face made her pause and baulk somewhat. "I know it's none of my business but –"

"No, it's really not," I spat, my hands clenching in the bedsheets and my teeth grinding together.

"But if you're going to be staying here for any amount of time, I think it's crucial for the team that you air your grievances, I'm not saying throw yourselves back into a relationship, I just think you need to agree to be civil with each other; we've already got a battle coming, we don't need one at home, too."

"Jean, I appreciate it, but don't. I will be civil with him, we're not going to start a screaming match, he's gone his way and I've gone mine, I'm sure he's landed on his feet and is working through a long list of rebounds or whatever."

The older redhead's eyebrows pulled together and there was a hint of sympathy in her eyes. "Is that what you really think? That Gambit is that cold-hearted? Because I can tell you that couldn't be farther from the truth. Sure, I can't read his mind properly, but I can get a feel of his emotions sometimes when he lets his guard down. And the first few months after you left, he was distraught, but of course, around everyone else, he was smiling, cracking jokes, but when he was alone, he was sad and lonely, it brought me down just being on the same floor as him."

I didn't want to hear this; I didn't want to hear how my selfish tendencies had affected someone I cared about.

"And I think you know better than anybody here that Gambit isn't very good at admitting his true feelings, so you need to be the bigger person here, sit down with him and talk it out, come to an agreement about where you both stand, not just for the two of you but for the good of the team."

"Did Scott get you to do this? He's always going on about the best options for the team. Would he be too uncomfortable to talk about relationships with me that he sent you to do his bidding?" As I spoke, I mentally scolded myself; this aggressive, defensive behavior was something I'd been working on getting rid of, it's just childish, but I can't help myself, it's my go to mechanism to protect myself from things I'm too cowardly to listen to.

The look on Jean's face wasn't one of being offended, it was sadness, not at my rudeness, but actually for me. I knew Jean was a nice person with such a kind heart and it was another thing I was jealous of.

"Gambit may act like an emotionally untouchable ladies' man, but deep down, it hurt him, I'd even go so far as to say you broke his heart." Jean said softly before giving me another soft smiling and then getting up to leave.

Once the door shut, I dropped my head into my hands. Coming back here was a mistake, I'm too much of a weakling to deal with this kind of stuff; fighting the bad guy? Let me at 'em. But dealing with relationships and that kind of shit? I run a mile.

Here I was thinking that I could just drift back to New York after floating away; hoping that everything would be the same. The thing about floating, though, is that it's all well and good until you've drifted so far from the shore and you don't know your way back. Maybe I should start swimming.