A/N: EDIT: Thanks to the reviewer who reminded me that Evan/Spyke would not be around during the 'new season', due to joining the Morlocks. The first chapter has been tweaked to remedy this.

-

Late into the night, Kitty was still talking about the day's events, and Scott's speech about supporting the 'big picture'. Rogue was getting quite sick of hearing it, but figured it was better for Kitty to vent on her than on Scott himself. She listened patiently to her friend as they raided the refrigerator for midnight snacks.

"I mean, the nerve!" Kitty said for the umpteenth time, scooping out some chocolate power for her milk and mixing it furiously. "Don't you like, feel guilty?"

"Sure Ah do, Kitty," Rogue said with a yawn, grabbing a soda. "But like Jean said, ya can't do anythin' about it. Just stop fussin'."

"I just can't, like, get over it!" Kitty insisted, plopping down on the nearest chair. "Next time, I'm stopping no matter what Scott says."

"Ya have to obey, or ya lose your field mission privileges," Rogue pointed out as she took a big gulp of cola straight from the can.

"I know," Kitty said with a sigh, now stirring her chocolate milk absentmindedly. "I wish there was something we could do."

"Yeah," Rogue replied as she got up to leave. "You can go to sleep and forget about it."

But Kitty couldn't, and it kept her up that night, as she laid awake in her bed. It was like Rogue had said; Scott had lost all respect for the Cause. He was too obsessed with the 'big picture'. It was too bad there weren't a couple heroes for the little pictures…

Kitty sat straight up in her bed, so excited she just about phased through it.

"That's it!" she hissed, leaping from bed and phasing through the door, much to the confusion of Danielle. She hustled as quietly as she could manage all the way to Rogue's new room, and knocked lightly on the door.

"Rogue!"

The skunk-headed girl opened the door, though didn't seem too happy about being woken up at such an ungodly hour.

"What?" Rogue mumbled, still half asleep.

"Let's do something! Let's be the Sirens again!"

"You're kiddin', right?" Rogue said, suddenly wide-awake. "You mean be illegal vigilantes. No, thank you. We swore that off ages ago. Do you want to go to jail?"

Rogue's new roommate, Alison, sat up in her bed, listening intently but not saying a word.

"Don't you want to make a difference?" Kitty insisted to Rogue. "Help the little people? Just remember what a blast it was. And with your powers, and Jean's… It'll be a breeze."

"Wait, you're not bringin' Jean into this madness either," Rogue said firmly.

Kitty grinned.

"She was a Siren, right?"

"What's a Siren?" Alison asked. "What's going on?"

Rogue sighed and crossed her arms. Alison was ignored.

"Stop being insane and go back to sleep," Rogue commanded Kitty. "It's just wrong for so many reasons. Besides, we don't have all of us anymore… With Amara taken back with her family, and Tabitha who knows where…"

"We can do this ourselves! In secret, like before…"

"One word: Scott. He knows who the Sirens are."

"With his brother enrolled and starting training this week," Alison finally joined in. "Scott will be too distracted to notice the sky falling. Not to mention he's as dumb as a doorknob."

"Hey, you hush, Dazzler!" Rogue commanded her. "You're not a part of this. Believe me, you don't want to be."

"Hey, listen Southern Belle," Alison said, folding her arms indignantly. "You guys made me a part of this when you woke me up at two-thirty in the morning!"

"Com'on, Rogue," Kitty pleaded. "We can do this."

"Count me in," Alison raised her hand. "Even if I have to tolerate 'woe-is-me' Rogue over there, I want in."

Rogue sighed and ran her hands over her face in frustration.

"Fine. Ya get Jean, Ah'm in too."

"Deal!" Kitty said, satisfied in her victory.

"Ah can't believe Ah'm doin' this again…"

-

Logan and Professor Xavier gazed over the green campus at the younger students in the yard. Some played catch, others played basketball, but all in all, they seemed to be having fun.

"The new students seem to be adapting with the others splendidly," Professor commented, nodding toward a dark-skinned, raven haired girl sitting next to Kitty by the pool. Both were deep in conversation as they rubbed tanning lotion upon their arms. "Danielle Moonstar seems finally settled in…"

Next, he looked to a short Chinese girl playing ping-pong with a long-haired blonde boy, laughing loudly as she stopped the ball in midair and then hit it back to him with her paddle.

"Hey, no fair!" the blonde called out in protest.

"Scott's brother Alex is bonding well with our little time-manipulator, Lea Chan. I think being enrolled at the same time might have influenced their friendship."

Logan put his hands in his pockets as his own eyes trailed over to a blonde girl with dark make-up sitting in the shade on a green bench, reading a book by herself. She looked up from her reading once to watch the other students play, but she soon lost interest and dived back into her story.

"What about that one?" Logan pointed her out.

"Ah," Professor said regretfully. "Alison Blaire. A runaway, who seems very untrusting of us, especially her new roommate, Rogue. I'm hoping that time will cure her of that."

Logan took a final look around at the campus, and barely saw the trench-coated shadow just hopping down to the outside of the wall and beyond sight.

"Did you see--?"

"Yes," Professor interrupted. "It's our old acquaintance: Gambit. He's been coming around for quite some time. At first I believed that it was just to keep an eye on Rogue, but now, I'm starting to think he's developed new reasons."

"He's not thinkin' of joinin', is he?" Logan growled in contempt.

"I don't know. But might I add, Logan, I would welcome him if he so desired to stay. I hope you would do the same."

Logan ground his teeth at the thought and pulled up his collar around his neck.

"Yeah, yeah…" he grumbled and he stalked off.

-

"NO WAY," Jean said firmly, finishing up the drying on her SUV. Kitty was begging her to join, and she was on her last nerve.

"Please?" Kitty said, eve pulling out the last resort of her infamous 'Kitty Eyes' and pouty lips, hoping to coax Jean into it. Surprisingly, even that was deflected.

"No," Jean countered. "Don't pull that look on me. Being a Siren is too risky, especially since the Apocalypse ordeal and people now realize how dangerous mutants can be. We'll get arrested."

"I knew it," Kitty said, folding her arms and moping. "I knew since you've been dating Scott that you'll always want to be under him, taking orders…"

Jean froze, and that's when Kitty found her angle. Jean slapped down her towel angrily.

"That's not true!" she insisted. "I can think for myself."

Kitty folded her arms and looked skeptical.

"The only time I ever saw you think for yourself was when you were a Siren."

Jean said nothing.

"Just think about it, Jean," Kitty said, taking her leave. Jean frowned as Kitty walked off, but didn't have the words to argue anymore. Kitty exited through the garage door, passing through the kitchen absentmindedly.

"Hi, Scott," she waved distractedly as she passed his backside sticking out form the fridge, searching for food.

Then, went Kitty reached the door to the hall, she halted abruptly, dawning on an idea. Then she smiled. Widely.

"Oh, Sco-ott!" Kitty sang, turning back around. "Jean wants to talk to you…!"

"What about?" he said, taking a drink from the water bottle he took from the fridge.

"I don't know," Kitty thought quickly. "Something about needing help with her SUV, because she's incapable of doing it herself, because she's not strong enough. You know… being a girl and all…"

"Oh, I see," Scott said with a determined nod, going right out the door. "Thanks, Kitty."

"Don't thank me yet," she muttered under her breath, sticking around to see the inevitable fight transpire.

A moment later, Scott was back inside, a very angry Jean behind him.

"And even if there WAS something wrong, I wouldn't ask a egotistical, macho, hyper-competitive, testosterone driven JERK like you!"

"Whoa!" Scott said, throwing up his hands. "That's going too far, Jean! I was just trying to help!"

"Help someone else. Look up Taryn, I'm sure she'll want you to hang on her every whim. We are so through!"

"Fine!" Scott said. "I wouldn't want to be with you anyway, you over-sensitive, touchy femin-Nazi GIRL!"

With that, Scott stormed off. Kitty gasped and her chest flooded with guilt. She didn't realize this would go so deep… She figured quickly that they must have been having problems before, otherwise this fight wouldn't have been so easily aroused.

Jean was fuming. One could almost see the fire out of her mouth. She noticed Kitty, standing stunned in the doorway, her mouth hanging open.

"Let's show these guys what we're made of," Jean said determinedly.

Kitty was easily cheered, and applauded this happily.

"All right!"

-

Please review.
Signed,
--RedRogue