AN: I own nothing except a sore back and a bottle of water.

I worked very hard to get this chapter out. It's over 3,000 words (hint hint Sharky) and I hope it get's a better response than the last chapter.

Did I do something wrong? It didn't seem as popular as the last two and yet I really liked the carnival scene. I thought it added an extra dimension to Rogue and Remy's relationship. But if you didn't like it then...

Um this might be the last chapter for a while. Sorry.

Song: Leave Out All The Rest - Linkin Park (Btw this chapter is dedicated to Adam who introduced me to LP and to Josh as this was our song)


Rogue got the call from Xavier about a week later.

"We've finally got everything sorted out. I am now in a position to accept Joseph."

"Thank God. I'll bring him over first thing tomorrow as the semester is almost over and I've got no more major classes or lectures."

"My call does have another purpose, however."

"Oh?"

"I was wondering if you, and maybe Remy, would help Logan and Betsy with something."

"I'm listening."

"We are organising a trip for some of the year round students and need more chaperones."

"Sure. I've got nothing on and I'm sure Remy would love to come. When do we leave?"

"Next Thursday. So you'll have some time at the mansion with the others."

"That sounds great - oooh! Remy's here. Rems!" She shouted, covering the mouth piece with a hand. "Are you free for the next month or so?"

The Professor heard a muffled "Oui. Pour quoi?"

"Wanna take a trip with Logan, a supermodel, me and a bunch of kids?"

"I t'ought you were a supermodel." Rogue must have glared at him or something because he then said "Sure."

"Sweet." Rogue spoke into the phone again after removing her hand. "We're in."


The next morning Remy and Rogue were loading their bags into Rogue's Lambo when Joseph exited the building.

"Okay. So, Joseph, you are with my in my baby and Remy's on his bike. Is that okay with you?"

Joseph beamed like he had just won an award and said "Most definitely." He handed her his bag and, when she bent over to squish it in, sent Remy a smirk.

Rogue stood up and commanded "Well let's get going then!" She turned as Joseph got into the car and pressed a lingering kiss to Remy's lips. "I hope you won't miss me too much." She said with a smile, as one hand played with a piece of Remy's hair.

"Chère, what Gambit'll miss most is de feeling of y' body pressed against mine." He dipped down for another kiss and nipped her bottom lip gently.

Rogue pushed him away "Get on your damn bike Cajun, before I change my mind about going and drag you up to my room."

Remy chuckled and mounted his bike. He waited for Rogue to head off before following her.

The trip took several hours and the time passed slowly. Rogue and Joseph played 'I Spy' and 'Yellow Car' while Remy gritted his teeth and tried to concentrate on the bike between his legs.

It was a great relief to see the mansion ahead.

Jubilee, Logan and Kitty stood outside, waiting for them.

Rogue had barely stopped her car and put the handbrake on before she was flying out of it, literally, and launching herself at Logan.

They were both laughing as they embraced and Jubilee was having none of it. She tapped Rogue on the shoulder and, when she turned, Jubes held her arms open. Rogue hugged her friend tightly and then opened an arm out for Kitty to join them. They all started talking a mile a minute about what had happened since they'd last seen each other and soon were giggling like school girls.

Logan, Remy and Joseph just stared at them like they had fallen from the sky.

Popping the trunk Logan grabbed the bags and said "Let's leave them to it. No idea what could happen if we stick around and I don't really wanna find out."


Logan kindly escorted Joseph to the Professor's office before showing Remy where his room was. At Remy's cheeky question of "An' where's ma belle femme staying?" he got told, in no uncertain terms, that she was in the girls wing and that he should associate going into the girls wing with being castrated.

Remy was strangely quiet after that.

Logan, after Remy declared that he was going to have a look around went to find Rogue.

She was sitting in the rec room, on one of the sofas, chatting with a few of the other girls.

"Rogue?" Asked Logan. She turned around and smiled at him before getting up and joining him at the door. "I'll see you guys later." She said to the girls before saying "Hey Logan, what's up?"

They started to walk down the corridor. "I was thinking of running a DR session. You in?"

"Yes! I never thought I would say this but I actually miss the old DR Sessions."

Logan smiled at that "Gumbo gonna come?"

"Course! He wouldn't miss the chance to show off for the world. I'm gonna see if they Professor's done with Joseph. I wanna invite him as it would be interesin' to see how you handle him. what with him being able to manipulate metal."

Logan humphed before saying "You go see Chuck. I'll round up the kids."


Rogue raised her hand to knock but then thought better of it. She reached out with her telepathy and found the Professor's brain.

'Hello Rogue.'

'Hi Professor. Sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you were done with Joseph as we were going to have a Danger Room session and thought he might be interested in joining in.'

'We are almost done. Do come in.'

Opening the door she found Joseph sitting in chair in front of the Professor. He turned at the sound of her entry and smiled at her.

"Thank you Joseph. I will do some research and get back to you. For now Logan has planned a Danger Room session." The Professor smiled wryly. "Enjoy."

Joseph got out of the chair and moved to shake the Professor's hand. "Thank you for all your help, sir."

Rogue held the door for him and just as the door was closing the Professor heard Joseph asked in a worried voice. "What's a Danger Room session?"


"Alright guys and gals. Here's what's happening. I'll split you into teams and after that it's a basic capture the flag game."

Joseph turned to Rogue and opened his mouth. She cut him off with a "You get their flag and stop them getting ours."

He nodded, his question answered.

When Rogue had told him that Danger Room sessions involved the X-Men in a hostile situation, normally a very nasty one if Logan was in charge, trying to achieve something, work together as a team and not get shot at he was slightly worried.

But this Capture the Flag concept seemed easy enough.

'Famous last words' he thought as Logan read out the teams.

"Rogue, Gumbo, Joseph, Betsy, Storm, John and Neal are on one team. Jubilee, Kitty, Bobby, Piotr, Beast, Nightcrawler and I are on the other. Thunderbird – try not to incinerate anyone this time."

Neal nodded sheepishly and Rogue looked mildly interested. It was strange to see how alike Thunderbird Neal and her friend Neal from college were. The thought of them two teaming up did scare her slightly though.

"One rule. You must cross the line whilst not using your powers. So no teleporting or flying or going intangible so no one can grab you. You must use your own skills as soon as the boundary line is in sight. Clear?"

"Computer: Run session 'Capture the Flag 3'" commanded Wolverine after everyone had nodded and the others watched as the room shifted into what seemed to be a forest/park setting. Rogue could see a large lake not far away complete with ducks, and a long grassy hill.

"Okay teams – split up!" Logan began to lead his team in one direction and Storm called her team in the other.

"Okay everyone. We are going to split into two teams. An offensive team, who will go after the opponents', flag and a defensive team to stay and defend ours. Any volunteers for either team?"

Rogue stuck her hand up "Offence please."

Remy joined her "Moi aussi, sil vous plaît, Stormy."

Rolling her eyes at the nickname.

After some more volunteers and some shuffling Rogue, Remy and John were on offence, Joseph, Neal and Betsy were on defence and Storm said that she would be scouting from above and helping out where she was needed.

They heard the siren announce that the game had begun and the defence team ran off to set their flag up in a defensible position.

Rogue flew down low, with Remy and John running along beside her until they got the boundary line. It was simply a line of small rocks stretching out to either side but it marked the point where you were safe and in your own territory and when you were behind enemy lines.

If you got tagged by an opposing team member while in their territory, you were forced to walk back to your team line.

Rogue started to fly a little higher. It was harder to navigate but it was also harder to see her. By doing this she was able to spot and subsequently avoid Bobby and Piotr who were moving through the forest, possibly looking for them.

Soon Rogue managed to spot the flag. Only Jubes was sitting near it, looking bored and blowing bubble gum. Knowing that something was up, Rogue flitted down to Gambit and John and relayed her thoughts to them.

Using her telepathy she managed to 'see' that Piotr had turned around and was now hiding in the woods, watching the flag. Nightcrawler was doing the same.

"I'm gonna be cannon fodder. Rems, you're fast and agile so you go for the flag. John can you cover him with fire? Like surround him or something so no one can get to him."

"No problemo." Said John, pulling out his lighter.

"Alright. Good luck gentleman." Said Rogue with a half smile before she took off. When she thought she was in a good position she let out a piercing whistle.

"Oi! You lot. I'm here. I'm thinkin' about stealin' that nice lookin' flag over there. Anyone gonna stop me?"

Bobby was suddenly sliding up to her. She turned and managed to dodge out of the way of a beam of ice. Remy saw this and dashed over, ignoring the plan, to charge the ice.

Rogue saw him doing this out of the corner of her eye and suddenly swooped down, trying to help him. John also ran over as he had no idea about what the others were up to.

Remy had charged the ice up but was distracted by the arrival of Rogue. "What d'ya think you're doin', swamp rat?"

"Tryin to help ma chère, of cour-" He was cut off as the charge he had in the ice suddenly blew. Rogue, Remy and John flew through the air.

Rogue managed to grab Remy and was reaching for John but he slipped through her fingers.

Unfortunately this meant that he landed in the nearby lake.

Remy was rather smug about this and he just had to comment. "Gambit can't help but notice you save him chère, and not de Firefly. Must be ma way with women." Rogue raised an eyebrow before flying over to where John was beginning to stand up. "Don't flatter yourself, swamp boy." She said before dumping him the water.

John reached down to pull him to his feet. "Little piece of advice Cajun: Never make that woman made at you." He quipped, pulling the sodden Gambit to his feet.

Rogue, meanwhile had flown back to where Jubilee was looking slightly guilty. Rogue guessed that Jubes had fired her plasma balls, missed and forced the ice to explode unexpectedly.

"Big mistake." Smiled Rogue evilly as she hovered in front of Jubilee.

"Okay… You are seriously up there with Wolverine and Mystique on the list of people who shouldn't be allowed to smile like that." Said Jubilee, looking to the sides for an escape route.

Rogue zoomed towards Jubilee and grabbed her by the collar of her uniform. Depositing her burden in the top of a tree, Rogue gave her a cheery smile and cocky salute before zooming back down.

Bobby and John were currently in a fire/ice battle and she decided to leave them to it. That just left Piotr and Kurt.

Piotr was standing, in metal form, in front of the flag. Rogue started to wonder where Kurt was when she heard a *bamph* behind her. Reacting on instinct she zoomed straight upwards, utilising every ounce of her supersonic flight.

When she deemed herself high enough she glanced down to see that Kurt had vanished again. Remy was now walking towards Piotr, twirling his staff around nonchalantly.

Rogue decided to stay in her elevated position so that she would be ready when Kurt reappeared.

Remy stood in front of Piotr sizing up the metal man. Without warning he dashed forward and gave Colossus a sold thwack to the head before flipping over him. Dodging every swipe that was aimed at him, Remy had soon reduced the mighty giant to a panting wreck.

"Not quick enough, homme?" he asked cockily before he heard a *bamph* next to him.

He managed to turn fast enough to see Kurt grabbing for him. Flipping out of range the two of them began a complex dance of quick blows and then one would follow up while the other somersaulted away.

Regrettably Kurt had forgotten about Rogue. And so he was slightly surprised when he found his feet frozen to the ground. Rogue alighted next to him and blew at the guns she made with her hands.

"Go for the flag, Rems. I'm gonna break up the testosterone match over there." She said, gesturing with her thumb at John and Bobby who were still at it.

Remy was gone as soon as she had finished that sentence and so she flew behind Bobby, making to stay out of his line of sight.

Settling just behind him she quickly picked him up and flew him up in the air.

John stopped flaming him as soon as Rogue picked him up. "Go back up Remy!" Shouted Rogue and John raced after the Cajun who was already running to boundary line.

"Now Rogue. I want you to know that I really respect you as a person and think you are an incredible fighter."

"Please." Interrupted Rogue before he could grovel any more. "You're just saying that so I'll try not to drop you."

"Try?" asked Bobby, worriedly.

Meanwhile...

Joseph had restrained Wolverine but wasn't sure how much longer he could hold him for. Neal was trying to keep Kitty back using his plasma attacks to melt holes in the ground. And Betsy was involved in a complicated fight with Beast.

Storm was hovering out of sight, ready to dive in when she was needed when she caught sight of Remy running for the line.

She stayed silent until he had crossed the line before letting loose a cheer as the current setting melted away.

Jubilee found this most disconcerting as she started to plummet to the ground. Luckily Rogue was expecting this and managed to easily catch her.

"Sorry about that Jubes." Rogue said as she put Bobby and Jubilee down. They mock glared at her for a bit before smiling and starting to chat about the exercise.

Logan was a bit put out that his team hadn't won but all his anger seemed to disappear when Storm put her hand on his arm. He smiled at her before turning to the group who was starting to gather. "Well done guys. Now Scooter would want a full de-briefing with diagrams and flow charts. But as it will piss him off you guys can all go and chill out. Now beat it."

Rogue flew over to Remy and picked him up, swinging him around a bit before hugging him. "Hahaha we won!" She bubbled, on a high from their victory.

This made Remy smile "Course we did. With y' an' me on the team, we had to."

She wrapped an arm around his waist and he slung an arm over her shoulder. They walked out of the Danger Room and parted ways briefly to get changed.

When they met again they decided to head to the rec room for some down time. Unfortunately some of the gang had a poked game going. Remy sent Rogue a desperate pleading look and so she acquiesced. "Go on then. I'm gonna go for a walk."

Remy was halfway to the table after the first syllable and he nodded and said "Sure." distractedly.

She shook her head at her boyfriend before wandering outside.

The weather was getting cooler and the nights getting longer but she didn't mind. She loved the wind in her hair and the darkness, the only light coming from the gibbous moon above her.

Walking away from the lights of the mansion she sat down on the grass and just opened her senses to the night.

Rogue was very relaxed and so she didn't sense the approaching person until he was almost right on top of her.

Rogue's eyes snapped open and she had a glowing ball of energy in her right hand, pulled back and ready to release.

"Sorry if I startled you." Murmured Joseph looking abashed.

Rogue let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and let the energy fade. She also floated down when she realised that she had automatically hovered to gain height on her possible attacker.

"It's okay Joseph. I guess I'm still not good at being snuck up on." She smiled self-deprecatingly.

"It is understandable Rogue."

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, moving to stand beside the man.

He shrugged "I guess I am doing a bit of soul searching. Trying to find out who I am. As a person I mean. I have had little time to establish myself and I do not feel right. I feel like a pathetic facsimile of a person. A copy. I suppose that is what I am. The Professor thinks I might be a clone."

"So? Just because you are a clone doesn't make you less important." Rogue grabbed his hand and pulled him to face her. "You are just as much of a person as I am. And just as important. You feel and remember. You are also good inside. I can see it. And I think it's a pity that more people don't know. You may have the powers of Magneto but you are nothing like him. You are good! Remember that."

Joseph smiled. "Thank you, Rogue. I needed to hear that."

Rogue shrugged and smiled gently "It was no trouble. Now, if you don't mind, I think I will head back inside to stop my boyfriend from ripping off my old classmates."

With a squeeze she dropped his hand and walked away.

Joseph watched her go with an indefinable expression on his face.