Xavier Institute, Sept. Thursday. 14th 9:12 pm

Funny how things worked out. Mystique hadn't meant to get taken captive with Rogue. Quite the contrary, she wanted to make sure Rogue remained unaltered. But it had an interesting side effect. She was given sanctuary at the institute. It was an uneasy alliance to say the least. Scientists were eager to get their hands on DNA like hers, Betsy had warned them. It was better for the whole world if she was safe and safest would be at the institute, at least for right now.

The institute was the first last place she wanted to be.

There was plenty to investigate there. The X-Men couldn't avoid drama if their life depended on it, it would be easy to farm information. It was like taking candy from a baby to get away for just long enough for nobody to notice. She managed to get to Cerebro, injected it with a solution and got back to her room, remembering Destiny's words.

"Are you sure? This is a little harsh, even for me." Mystique commented, her arms crossed. Destiny leaned her head on her hands, a frown on her face.

"From what I can tell, yes. This needs to happen. The events that are coming... Rogue isn't going to survive them unless..." Mystique looked at the vial she had given her for a moment. Destiny was never off with her visions. That was her power. She was shown options of the future, maybe even ways to influence or ensure they happened. Rogue had been the most instrumental part of raising/defeating Apocalypse. "Dr. Essex supplied the concoction."

She frowned before she tucked it away. "I'll just wait for them to be preoccupied with something and infect Cerebro. Then,"

"We just wait for him to use it." Mystique scowled as she often did these days.

"Easy enough."

Now the institute would be vulnerable after the next time professor Xavier tried to track something with Cerebro.

She came around the corner to her guest room unnoticed, but ran right smack into Rogue. She sputtered, not usually one to get ruffled by things. But as she stood in front of her former foster daughter she couldn't find words. "Rogue,"

"Ugh, what are you doin' walkin' around?" Rogue asked angrily, her hands on her hips. Her hair was parted mostly to the left, and she was wearing a a short black shirt, a denim X jacket, and leather pants. Mystique stared, trying to find where to start on all the things she wanted to say to her.

"I-I needed some air. I've been instructed that, so far, this isn't prison." She said, her gaze lowered. Rogue watched silently until she retreated back into the room. She shivered involuntarily. She hated knowing that Mystique was in the same building as her. It kept her up at night, literally. Logan and Scott had been very vague and deliberate when "briefing" her on the things that happened in her absence. She had been present for enough.

'Logan...' She called out tentatively. That little piece of Jean in her allowed her to communicate via telepathy with people she was super close to (Logan and sometimes Scott or Kurt). She wanted to make sure he knew Mystique had been mobile. The professor had been far too distracted lately, and rightly so.

'What's wrong, Stripes?' He answered quickly, at attention wherever he was.

'I was goin' to the library and I caught Mystique out of her guest room.' She reported.

'Oh, I see.'

'Can you track her scent at all?' She asked.

'No. But I'll be keepin' an even closer eye on her now.'

'Okay.' Rogue answered, the voice in her head small.

'Nobody is gonna let her get to you. Or Kurt, for that matter.' He responded, using Kurt's actual name for a serious moment.

'Yeah. I know.'

Kurt popped out of his room and noticed the disconcerted look on Rogue's face.

"Hey! Vhat is it?" He worried, falling into stride beside her. She frowned. She knew Kurt was a little soft on Mystique. She was the woman who gave birth to him, how could he help it? She was the most disloyal person Rogue had ever met and should not be trusted, not even a little bit.

"I noticed Mystique skulking around..." She said, her voice trailing off. Kurt's face fell.

"She's still here, isn't she. I vonder how long she's gonna stay." He looked to Rogue as they walked, neither of them sure where they were going. "I kind of vanted to talk to her..." 'Again.'

"Vhy," Kurt said, unable to look his mother in her eyes. Against better judgement he'd gone to her guest room to speak with her. To say his piece. To get his answers. He had gone surprisingly blank when he got there though, realizing he truly didn't know his mother at all. "Vhy did you hand me over to Magneto as a baby?" She blanched a little, he'd never seen her face do that before.

"I've been with the mutant Destiny since before you and Rogue were born. She's always told me of the futures she saw. Everything," She looked at him. "I did. Good or bad. I did it to protect both of you. And secure your spots in the future."

He avoided her eyes. He couldn't tell if she meant it or if she was just a good actor.

"Kurt..." Rogue groaned. "That'd be great if she wasn't a master manipulator." He sighed.

"I know. But she's the only one who can give me certain answers. And she said she vanted to change after Apocalypse, she says she vas there to stop you from getting the cure." Rogue grabbed on to his shirt and dragged him near Mystique's guest room, both of them watching as she snuck out of her room and out the window as a bird.

"Because she's obsessed with my powers, Kurt. Not because she was lookin' out for me." She corrected, dragging him along. "Let's go see what mom's up to. Port!" She said, pointing out the window. Kurt pouted but he grabbed on to her and shot out the window after Mystique.

Xavier Institute, Sept. Thursday 14th 10:03 pm

"They're not here..." Jean answered Logan fearfully after scanning the mansion. Neither of them had talked about the other morning. If Jean didn't know any better she would say the older mutant was being harder on her to cover for what had happened. It was okay, the last thing she needed was Scott becoming any more suspicious than he might've been.

"What the hell do you mean?" He bit out. Scott, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Amara, Bobby, Jaime, and Piotr stood there, waiting for their two absent teammates to show up.

"Well," Jean burned under his stormy gaze, her earlobes burning. "They aren't far. They just aren't... In the mansion." Logan snarled, itching to release his claws.

"Stripes, I would be expecting this of. She's been playin' by the rules a little to long now. But Elf? No way. He's never earned himself a punishment training session with me." He crossed his arms. "What's goin' on?" Jean closed her eyes and focused, her face becoming pale. Scott moved closer to her.

"Everything alright?" He asked, noticing her difference in complexion. She shook her head no.

"No. Mystique isn't in her guest room either." His claws shot out instantly.

"If you're in here and suited up let's get to the damn X-Jet." He was worried about Rogue and the past couple days. He hated having a criminal mastermind in the mansion around his kids (around Kurt and Rogue, no less). And he just wanted to toss Jean again and there'd been no time. No way it could ever happen again. It had been risky enough the first time but it was all he could think about when he was near her. His extremely unpleasant demeanor wasn't helping, at all.

She was extreme good at getting around negatively feelings. It wasn't deterring her from wanting to be near Logan, and that was a problem.

Everybody knew better than to argue with Logan, especially right now.

Rogue didn't realizing porting constantly had the effect of making her feel high. They were on their 10th teleport when it seemed Mystique was finally arriving where she wanted to go. Rogue wavered a little on her feet, shaking her head a little.

"You told me to port us!" Kurt ribbed, his German accent strong.

She rolled her eyes and pulled him behind a dumpster. Mystique had flown to a shitty part of town. Homeless people and mutants hung there in their cardboard shanties. Rogue held her nose in disgust. "Can't say she doesn't belong here, but why?" She complained, watching as she finally reverted back to her true form. Kurt frowned at her but didn't bother reprimanding her.

"Maybe she has community service or something, Rogue. You know, people can change. You did." Rogue eyes darted over to her adopted blue sibling.

"Changed how?" She asked, her voice cross. Kurt chuckled, backing away from her.

"Ya, vell. Not v'en you talk like that... Look!" He pointed into the direction Mystique went. She peeled back stale cardboard and disappeared into the night. Rogue sniffed, slinking into the shadows.

"C'mon, Kurt. I'm gonna prove to you that mother dearest hasn't changed." She said, a scowl on her face. Kurt looked around hesitantly.

"Rogue, shouldn't ve head back... This isn't our business, and I think ve skipped out on a Danger Room session-" Rogue whipped to face him.

"Ya need to see this Kurt! That she's never gonna change." He hated his sister's pessimistic opinion of his mother. She was right and she had every reason to say it but it was still hard to hear. He just wished Rogue could find the same forgiveness he had. He was silent as she pulled him along carefully. They passed through the shabby boxes to find Mystique surrounded by a group of children.

They were obvious mutants, their strange colored hair and even skin tipping both Rogue and Kurt off. The siblings stood there dumbfounded. A little girl who had green, reptile like skin, a little boy with white skin, black eyes, a little boy with bright pink hair and a girl with white eyes stared up at them. Mystique looked back at them with an unreadable expression. Kind of solemn, maybe revering something.

"Kurt. Rogue." She said, standing in front of the children. Kurt's three fingered hand hovered over his chest, the sight of his mother seemingly coming to aid mutant children made his heart skip a beat. They both saw money and what looked like a pouch of jewels in her hand.

Rogue shivered as she pressed her bare hand to the guard's face. She was much younger, her auburn and white hair growing past her shoulders. Mystique sneered behind her, so proud of how well her daughter followed orders. The guard screamed as his eyes rolled in the back of his head. Mystique changed into the middle aged man's form and looked expectantly at Rogue. She rifled through the keys on his hip and grabbed one.

"It's this one for the safe..." Mystique nodded, taking the key to the safe on the counter behind them. Inside were jewels about jewels.

"Just as I thought..." She said to herself, pleased. She threw all of the jewels into her bag before turning to Rogue and giving her a few hefty pieces. From diamonds rubies, Mystique separated them in another bag and handed them to the teenage girl. "Good soldiers deserve rewards." She said, sneering.

Rogue stared into the tiny pouch with disbelief. There was enough to go somewhere and start over if she wanted to, someday. If Mystique would ever let her. "Whoa..." She said, eyeing a large emerald in there. "I don't know what to say." Rogue said honestly. Mystique nodded.

"Do with them what you will. C'mon, let's go." She looked at the girl seriously. "And don't say anything to those boys." Rogue nodded.

"Mother..." Kurt said in shock. He looked at the children's faces, cowering behind her.

"I suppose I am no longer welcome at the mansion for leaving unannounced?" She said a while. Rogue stared at her in shock.

"Maybe not, I'm sure th-" Rogue stalked forward before he'd finished talking. She grabbed Mystique's wrist and yanked her forward. Some of the children cried out in fear. "Rogue, vait!"

"Which one is it! Damn it, Raven!" Rogue screamed angrily, shaking her by her shoulders. "Which one of them is your new child super-soldier? Huh, mama?" She said, blinking back hot and embarrassing tears in her eyes. Mystique stared down at her. "C'mon, Mystique! tell us!" She screamed in her face. She looked down, a melancholy smile on her face.

"That one is a teleporter," She said, pointing. "But some sort of brain damage keeps her from being able to control where. That one," She pointed at the boy with black eyes. "Was a banshee. He controlled sound waves. Until he was experimented on him and they destroyed his vocal chords. And them," She looked at Rogue with hard eyes. "Just a physical mutation."

None of them seemed as powerfully endowed as Rogue was, but still she didn't put it past Mystique. She was not altruistic.

"You're pretty crafty, Mystique. If you think that's gonna placate me-"

"I'm done with the schemes, Rogue. Honest. They have nothing, I," She looked away. "Don't ask me why I've decided to get soft now..." Rogue shook her head, pushing away from her.

"I don't believe this, I won't!" She hissed, Kurt pulling her away.

"Come on," He said. He hated watching them argue. Whenever they were around each other, they argued. "Let's just go-"

"And just what the hell do we have here?" Now Mystique was standing protectively in front of the children.

"Looks like a squad of muties..." A man in a tacky burgundy suit pushed through crowd of rough looking men holding signs. Signs that said "MUTIES GO HOME." and "BRING HUMANITY BACK" among other lovely things. Rogue pushed Kurt behind her as he fumbled with his image inducer.

"Don't bother now..." She grumbled, eyeing the evil look in the man's eye.

"You all are quite brave for rolling in this conspicuous group." He said, a cigar in his mouth. Rogue rolled her eyes, spotting the anti-mutant propaganda a mile away.

"Yeah, well were just leavin'." She snapped, grabbing on to Kurt.

'Rogue... I can't teleport all of us. Not safely.' He reminded her in distress. She cursed to herself. That was true. She looked around desperately.

'This is one of those times I wish Logan or Scott were bein' overbearing.' She answered, wondering how many people she was going to have to touch to get out of this situation. She fiddled with her glove.

"Aw now, chere. Y'don't want them mens' in ya head, D'ya?" Rogue recognized the cajun voice immediately. She was completely overstimulated and wished she'd just stayed in her room or gone to training. She saw the pink glowing Ace of Spades fly out and land shortly before the group of mutant haters. They screamed in terror, yanking the man in the suit back as the card exploded, flaming bits of paper flying everywhere.

All eyes flew up to the roof of a building near by, a silhouette in a long trench coat with a staff standing there in the night. They had red glowing irises and they looked like a devil in the moonlight. Some of the men fled immediately, trembling before them.

'Remy...' Rogue thought, catching Kurt's attention.

'You mean Gambit? You're on a first name basis with him?' He thought incredulously. She ignored his mental inquiry and stared up at Remy in wonder, wondering how he'd ended up right here, right now.

He leapt down agilely, holding his staff over Rogue and Kurt. "Y'all thinkin' bout leavin' these nice people alone, non?" He stared hard at the mutant haters looking for trouble. They were grumbling amongst themselves. They were not equipped to take him on. Not now.

"We were just passing by Mutie Town, I'm sure we'll be back." He sent them a toothy grin that sent chills down their spine as they moved on, all of their stares lingering too long. Remy spit after them and stared down at Rogue, his staff gripped tight. She was parting her hair differently and he found it very flattering. Her lips weren't as dark as they used to be but her eyes with rimmed with soft, grey eyeliner. And he swore she was just a little less pale than when he'd whisked her away to New Orleans.

He could see she wanted to say something but she was lost in his eyes again. They shared a moment before being pelted with empty soda cans.

"No more mutie reproduction!" They screamed at them before finally running. A darkness flashed in his eyes as he grabbed the can and prepared to charge it. Rogue pulled his arm down, worry laced on her features.

"Remy, don't. Y'cain't." She said, his accent drawing hers out. He crushed the can and tossed it.

"Non, y'mean you can't, chére. Remy can do whatever he wants." He placed his hands in his coat pockets and his posture seemed to indicate better behavior. Rogue smiled to both Kurt and Mystique's disgust.

"What are you doing here?" A frown tugging at her face now. She didn't really have room to throw Remy into the mix of her crazy life. He grinned, studying her features.

"Told'ya Remy been watchin' ya for a while." He mused. This caused Mystique to wedge herself between the mutants, glaring at him.

"And just why are you following her? Back off, you Acolyte." She snapped. Everyone just rolled their eyes. Even Remy had to laugh at that but he kept the comment to himself. What he and Rogue had shared about their upbringing was not a light topic, and the fille looked stressed enough as it is. Rogue rubbed her temple.

"Look, much fun as this was..." Rogue began, hooking her arm in Kurt's with a smile on her face. "We have to get back before-"

"ROGUE." There was only one short, grumpy, clawed mutant that snarl could belong to. And of course he had to show up when Rogue was looking up at Gambit's mesmerizing eyes. His claws were already out, Scott, Jean, Kitty, Piotr, Bobby, and Jaime behind him. She could tell from the special frown on Scott's face that she was in for the ass chewing of her life. "Why is the swamp rat here?" He questioned, itching to carve Remy up for good measure.

"Aw, Remy resent dat." He muttered from beside Rogue. She sighed.

"I don't know, look Kurt and I came to see what she was doing." She threw a finger at Mystique, who scowled at her. Logan sighed.

"Yeah, we know. Can't punish you for that." He moved closer to her, bristling towards Remy. "Why don't we let Raven get back to whatever she was doing before we stashed her in the guest room." He said, his voice sounding final. She looked back at the troupe of children she'd snuck out to.

"Fine by me." She said, although she knew nobody was really listening. Logan wrapped his arm around Rogue and stared at Remy.

"Let's go home," He said, casting a final glance at Mystique and Remy. "X-Men." He finished. Mystique watched them leave as she had many times.

'Logan, but what about th-'

'I'll have him boot up Cerebro, Red.' He answered before she'd finished.

"Well, funny 'ting..." Remy chimed up, his voice loud and confident. Rogue wiggled from under Logan's arm. "Remy was thinkin' about takin' the professor's offer up. Y'know, 'bout joinin'." Everyone's blood ran colder than Bobby's. For some reason, Rogue couldn't hide her grin as he announced that. Scott clenched his teeth.

"No." He said plainly, ready to head back into the X-Jet.

"Scott." Jean said, mortified.

"Summers," Rogue began but Logan stood beside him.

"Sorry Stripes, you can't plead his case. He kidnapped you. For that alone..." He looked into the wild look in Rogue's eyes and knew she wasn't giving this up without a battle.

"Me. So you don't get to tell me how to feel about it." She looked around. Nobody seemed to want to get in the way of Logan and his bad mood as of late. But Rogue had time. "The professor said any mutant's welcome!. And yeah," She walked up to Logan to the cajun's surprise. "He used me. He took me. I get it. But I touched him by accident. He lives in here, in my head." She pointed to her head for emphasis. "Ain't a bad bone in his body. Y'all just don't like him, don't want more alpha male energy clouding up the institute." She crossed her arms triumphantly.

"Je pense... Je t'aime..." He mumbled under his breath.

Logan's stare hardened. He'd had a weird, bad couple of days and he didn't need it from his side kick. "Fine." He barked, turning wordlessly to the jet. "Let Chuck decide. I know what my answer would be," He glowered at Rogue. "But it's not my decision to make." He stomped in and sat in the pilot seat. Scott chased after him in disbelief.

"Logan, he was an Acolyte-" He began, kicking into his anal retentive ways.

"I ain't a saint either, Summers." The statement was loaded in more ways than the X-Men leader could know.

"I don't-"

"Charles would rather him be on our side than floating around out there, or worse." He said his eyes ahead of him. "Or whatever." What was really bothering both men is that He had managed to pluck Rogue and whisk her thousands of miles away. Do you know how hard it was to incapacitate Rogue in the Danger Room? Either she was so distracted it was easy to get her or maybe, part of her had wanted to go along.

The cajun made her act uncharacteristically. Rogue, if anything, was dependable. They could count on her to act a certain way. Stand-offish. Unbothered. Sarcastic. Rational. Reliable in every sense of the word on the field. When Gambit was involved, she laughed too much. Even after being kidnapped against her will.

He coaxed more of her accent and southern turn of phrases out that even they'd never heard. There was a mirth on her face, a quiet determination to pick Remy's brain. The leader knew she had been sweet on him but she'd never looked at him like that. Like he was an obstacle she would one day scale. And he didn't even know why he thought about that.

Remy and the whole situation made both men grumpy.

Rogue at least had the presence of mind not to sit next to him on the plane. She was with Kurt, her arm still hooked in his, quietly discussing their mother as though Remy wasn't even there. Jean sat up front with Scott and Logan, trying to send out soothing vibes. She was used to being both men's emotional incense but she hadn't felt all that balanced herself. She was soaking up the tense atmosphere and it was unbearable. Jean thought Remy seemed pretty fine and she loved the way he influenced Rogue already.

It was Kitty who sidled over and sat bravely right beside the red and black eyed mutant, a calm smile on her face. Piotr trembled so fiercely the clanking of metal was the only sound that could be heard in the jet.

Piotr had spent a lot of time around the kinetically blessed mutant. If he wanted to stop chasing Rogue and snatch Kitty, he probably could. That didn't seem to be the nature of Kitty's sudden social mood. Remy was still watching Rogue intently as she consoled and conversed with her younger brother. He was still paying attention to and speaking with Kitty.

"So," She said. "What's the real reason you're here, Gambit?" He smiled at her moxie, he could always appreciate that.

"Remy, petite." She nodded. "It could be for a few reasons..." He said. "But Remy told de truth." She followed his stare to her roommate and tried to conceal her giggles.

"Sure." She said and was silent the rest of the ride.

"I don't know, Rogue. None of those kids seemed remotely powerful. Or like they vouldn't be for a vhile." Kurt said quietly. He looked into Rogue's dead-panned face.

"She'll put in the long con." She responded, a frown on her face.

"I believe there is good in our mother. I have to." Rogue thought it was worrying and naive of Kurt, but powerful. She always thought the strongest thing about the X-Men was all the different things they brought to the table, things the other lacked. Kurt was able to forgive even the most heinous of transgressions. Rogue would never be able to and she knew that. And she would always be looking out for soft-hearted Kurt.

She didn't respond she just tossed her head on her sibling's shoulder and wondered how'd they'd ended up in the X-Jet.

Jean was quick to change into her pajama's when they got back to the institute. "Remy's going to be here tomorrow morning at least," she'd said. "I'm not gonna watch Logan and Scott's grandstanding to make it take as long as possible." Storm, Hank, Charles, Logan, Scott, Rogue, and Remy were all crammed into the professor's room. Kitty yawned and went to her bathroom to brush her teeth. Jean was probably right.

She was ready to count her blessings that the drama had gotten them out of the Danger Room.

Truth be told, Scott's feelings were kind of bugging Jean. The swatch of worry, to slight possessiveness, to anger and maybe even... Jealousy. It didn't make Jean jealous so much as it annoyed her to have to slug through them because Scott never did. Bed was definitely the better option. She hated when the boys acted like boys.

Remy hated feeling like he was on trial. He had stolen Rogue less than a year ago, but he was a master thief. What did they expect? He never would've thought she'd be going to bat to give him the chance to stay there. She was a fighter, and there was nothing Remy found more attractive.

"Ya let Lance try to come here, twice." Rogue accused, wagging a finger.

"THAT," Logan interrupted. "Was different." He growled.

"HOW?" Ororo held her hands up.

"You guys..." She began, her voice airy. "You have yet to let the most important person speak." She gestured to Remy who blushed, for a moment in awe of Ororo's regal beauty. "Remy?"

He smirked, loving the frowns on Scott and Logan's faces. It was way too easy to get them riled up. "Well," He started. "Times are different. Gettin' a little scary, maybe even for dis cajun." He explained, red and black irises sliding to Rogue every so often. "Thought might be a good idea to align m'self wit someone." Xavier nodded, wading through the telepathic nightmare of the room to listen to him.

'Please give him a chance...' Rogue was thinking, unaware her hands clasped together.

'How long would it take me heal from one of Gumbo's blasts? One minute? Two...'

'I don't even look at Jean as much.'

"Well, Remy, that's about as good a reason as any. If you're really serious about joining I'm inclined to let you." He answered with a small smile. Rogue tried to hide her squeal as both Scott and Logan's faces fell.

"Welcome aboard, mon ami." Said Hank with a toothy grin. Scott shook his head but remained silent when he noticed how genuinely pleased Rogue looked for a change.

"Ororo, would you please show our new member to a spare room and explain some ground rules?" The metallic skknt was heard, and Scott couldn't help but smile. It was times like these he almost liked Logan.

"Please, Chuck. Let me." He growled, smiling at the southerner with glee.

"Oh, damn it Logan." Rogue hissed. Scott and Logan had been ganging up on him so much she hadn't been able to give him a hard time. She was being robbed of her fun.

"S'okay, chére. Just give me a minute," He said, holding out a finger to approach Rogue and stare down at her. Logan snarled. "Why you stick up for Remy like dat, huh?" He asked, his unconventional eyes twinkling at her. Even Ororo averted her gaze as they looked at each other, steam practically unloading between Logan's ears. She rolled her eyes.

"Because, Gumbo." She said, pointing at her head. "Ya really do live in here. Y'ain't a danger to any of us, just ya'self." 'Ya had nowhere to go.' She thought solemnly. She folded her arms. "And it ain't cause I like ya or nothin'." She was finally back, the ice queen demeanor he had been thinking about. Remy loved a challenge. And he loved an enigma even more. He flicked his nose and chuckled.

"Oh, y'don't?"

"Gambit."

With a lanky gallop he finally followed after Logan before he went into a beserker rage. Wordlessly (but looking like they might crack up), Hank and Ororo disappeared from Charles' office. That left him, Rogue, and Scott. Scott looked like his glasses were gonna fall off his face.

"Scott-" He shook his head, stumbling towards the door. "Scott, don't be mad!" She blurted. She didn't know why. She was not deluded enough to believe that Scott would ever be mad or jealous over her, that was reserved for Jean. But she could tell by his body language, the vein pulsing in his neck, and the way he'd purposefully placed the girl in one of his shadowy blind spots that he was pissed.

"I'm not-" He cut himself off, refusing to allow more energy to the situation. "It's not that, not at all." He said, his face softening. Rogue couldn't see his eyes but she was sure they would've forced a blush on her face. Gambit was gonna break Rogue's heart. Undo all the painstaking progress Rogue had struggled through, and he was having more of a reaction to that than he thought he would. Rogue wasn't the scrappy kid who showed up at the mansion with him, he didn't know what he thought of her sometimes. But Gambit wasn't good for her and he knew that.

He scooted awkwardly around the girl and went to his room instead of trying to communicate any of that. They had been so close as of late. She sighed, hanging her head in defeat. 'I managed to piss off Scott and Logan, great.' She thought grudgingly.

"He worries for you." Xavier said after a quiet moment. Rogue turned to the bald mutant. "We all do, we cannot help it. You are very precious to us." It was a very rare, intimate moment with the man she looked up to like a father. She took his word very seriously so she was embarrassed now as he praised her.

"He's not gonna take me somewhere, professor. Logan even made a kidnap drill after that." She said, rolling her eyes. Logan never let her forget it. 'There were no master telepaths, no manipulation, no nothin'!. You let him just grab ya bridal style and carry you off!' He'd roared.

"We don't mean that way. Even I can't help but notice the way being around Remy positively electrifies you." Her blush deepened several shades. "It must be nice to be around someone who reminds you home, isn't it?" She nodded dumbly. 'Yeah...' She thought. 'That's what it is...' She thought about roaming around New Orleans with him. "He isn't upset with you, just worried. He worries quite a bit about all of you." 'As do I.'

"Yeah, professor. I know." They shared a tired smile.

"Why don't you get some rest?"

Mystique's phone rang shortly after the X-Jet took off back to the mansion. She was glad they'd cast her out, she was growing bored and she'd made a lot of progress already.

"Destiny." She answered.

"Are you still at Mutie Town?" She asked tenses. Mystique nodded even though she'd never see.

"Yes. I only want Blink. The teleporter. The rest should learn how to stay out of trouble." Destiny's lips twitched into a smile.

"Good. Because we have other things to attend to. Carol is here."

"Take care of her for me. I have to report to Genosha soon. Talk to you later." A sneer slid over Mystique's face. She hung up without saying anything else and transformed into a Raven.