Chapter 7

Saturday morning started way too early for the group of teens. After only 3 hours of sleep everyone was crabby and snapping. Ladybug and Cat Noir showed up right at seven and even Cat didn't really say anything to anyone. Not even any puns. If the rest of the group was a little more awake they might have wondered why the French heroes were just as tired at them but nobody was awake enough to care. Logan looked at the group and decided to give them a little bit of a break since they were going to need to focus this weekend. "Good news for you guys," he announced as they loaded into the van. "It's going to take us 2 hours to reach our starting point so you can sleep on the way." The group let out little cheers as they settled in and got comfortable. They were barely out of the drive when they were all out. Logan and Storm looked at each other before grinning.

"This weekend is going to be eventful," Ororo commented as Logan turned towards the interstate. Once they reached Fontainebleau they found the spot they had re-conned earlier in the week. Nobody had been to this part of the forest in quite a while so it was the best place for their training.

They woke up the sleeping teens and started unpacking what supplies they brought. "Now, for the first exercise I want you to scout the area for the best place to set up a camp that would be difficult for opponents to find but will provide you with what you need to survive. This is a group effort. And just so you don't think I'm going easy on you I have set up booby traps in certain areas so watch where you are going. Storm is air support for in case you don't heed my warning. Once camp has been set up we will commence with the second training session. You have 45 minutes. Ready, set, go!"

The group started scrambling. "We need to find high ground to take in our surroundings and figure out which direction to head." Cyclops looked around and noticed a descent sized hill within 5 minutes from where they currently were. "This way." The group headed towards higher ground as a fog began to move in.

"What's with the weather?" Cat Noir looked around at the growing mist.

"It's Storm's way of making sure civilians don't see us wondering around in our uniforms. It's also probably going to factor in to the next training run." Jean frowned. She wasn't much of a country girl and had in fact spent most of her life in the city and wasn't too comfortable in the woods.

They reached the top of the hill quickly and looked around as quickly as possible. Off in the distance they noticed a break in the trees. "Kurt, can you teleport over there and find out what is there?"

Kurt nodded and headed off in the direction Cyclops indicated. In a couple of minutes, he was back. "There's a creek down there running through the woods. That's probably the ideal direction to head in."

With a nod, the group headed off once again. They were down to only having 35 minutes left. If they failed this they knew that Logan would punish them and make the rest of the sessions even harder.

Luckily, they managed to find a great spot to set up camp. The area was surrounded by a thick grove of trees and was within walking distance of the creek. Using what they had available in their packs as well as their powers they were able to find and set up camp within the time frame Logan had allotted.

Cat Noir and Ladybug felt a little out of place since this was their first time doing this sort of thing while the rest of the group had been doing these trainings for the last couple of years. Once everything was set up and the tents were pitched and covered with leaves to camouflage them the group started a small fire to begin preparing some food for lunch.

Storm and Wolverine showed up as the food was ready to eat. Wolverine was pleased that they had found a great spot for a camp. As everyone was eating Logan was planning the next training exercise. "You guys enjoy a little break while I go set up the next training exercise."

With a nod, everyone decided to head towards the creek and get some water. Storm used her powers to put out the fire they had used to cook the food. The weather was unusually warm for a fall day and with all their gear plus their uniforms everyone was getting a bit overheated. Once they made it to the stream they slipped off their boots and waded into the shallow part. Ladybug and Cat couldn't really take their boots off so they went upstream a little way and worked on filling the water jugs. Ladybug wandered into the water since she knew her suit would dry out quickly once she was out of the water.

Cat Noir perched on the side of the stream and watched her fill the jugs. A few minutes of peace and quiet passed before suddenly they heard a screech coming from downstream. The duo ran towards where they left their friends only to find everyone laughing as a soaked Kitty stormed out of the creek towards Kurt. "You are dead fuzzy man," she yelled as Kurt took off running into the woods.

"I get the feeling we missed something," Cat said with a grin as he watched the antics.

Ladybug laughed with everyone else when Kitty finally managed to get in front of Kurt and grab the front of his uniform. The blue elf yelped and teleported away but Kitty still had a hold of him so when he popped up behind Amanda in the water he wasn't prepared for the shove from Kitty causing him to splash into the deeper water. As everyone laughed Kurt walked out of the water and frowned at them. He then proceeded to teleport above their heads before shaking the water out of his fur onto them and teleporting away to a nearby branch once more laughing the entire time.

Cat and Ladybug laughed at their friends and the blue fur that was now stuck to their uniforms. As they laughed they missed a figure sneaking up behind them. Before they were aware of anyone the figure grabbed their shoulders. They reacted instantly to throw their attacker over their shoulders only to find themselves now in the stream with a laughing Kurt.

"We couldn't leave you guys out of all the fun," Kurt laughed as Cat hissed at being suddenly drenched. The hiss only managed to make everyone laugh harder. It looked like a full-blown water fight was about to start when they were interrupted by Logan.

"Enough fun and games. It's time to get to work," Logan growled. "We're going to split into two teams. How did you want to split it?"

"Guys vs girls," Jean smirked at Scott. "The boys could use a butt whooping." This caused all the girls to smirk at the boys.

Logan rolled his eyes. "I'll split the groups. We don't want anyone to be complaining later. Cyclops, your team will consist of Kitty, Colossus, Amanda, and Kurt. Jean, your team is Rogue, Gambit, Ladybug, and Cat Noir. There are two paths that lead to the same goal. Once you guys decide which team is going to take which path I will give you a map that leads to the goal. The winners will have a nice break tonight while the losers will make supper and make sure everything is ready for the night."

The two groups whooped and got ready to split up. Jean's group was assigned the east route and the Scott's group was sent down the west route. Once they had their maps the groups set off. Jean's group carefully made their way down the first part of the path. Ladybug and Jean were at the front of the group while Gambit brought up the rear to keep an eye on their backs. They made the first two meters without any issues.

However, as they started walking further, Jean tripped over something causing a volley of projectiles to shoot right at the group. They all ducked quickly out of the way Ladybug and Rogue jumped off the trail and fell right into a pit. Groaning, they took in their surroundings to see how to get out quickly. Each tried to jump up and get a hand hold on the wall only to fall right back down. Rogue and Ladybug looked at each other.

"I'll give you boost," Ladybug said putting her hands together. Nodding Rogue took a running leap using Ladybug's hands to propel herself out of the pit. Once she was out Ladybug flung her yoyo up to Rogue who caught it and held on so Ladybug could pull herself out.

"Is it just me," Rogue asked as she dusted her clothes off, "or is Wolverine losing his touch?"

Ladybug shrugged, "How would I know? This is my first time but so far I am unimpressed."

Rogue laughed as she looked for the others. "Where did everyone get to?"

Frowning, Ladybug looked around as well. "I'm not sure. Let's go check it out." They started walking forward when the suddenly saw three people fall out of the tree a couple of feet ahead of them.

Ladybug started laughing when she saw Cat squashed beneath Jean and Gambit.

Rogue laughed too before saying, "Ah thought cats always landed on their feet!"

"I stopped asking him about that a while back. Apparently, this cat didn't get that memo." The girls laughed some more as they walked forward to check on their teammates as they stood and dusted themselves off.

"Well, that explains why no one was around to help us up out of the pit we found," Ladybug said as they started carefully walking further down the trail.

"Sorry, M'Lady," Cat said, "but we were a little tied up."

"Somet'ing we could try sometime, chere," Remy purred in Rogue's ear earning him an elbow in the stomach.

"Cajun, ah think ya need ta have your head examined," Rogue said with a roll of her eyes.

"Are you offering?" Gambit grunted as Rogue once again put her elbow into his gut.

They were about to get into another argument when suddenly a bolt of lightning hit the ground right in front of the group as dark clouds rolled in and it started to rain. "Well, this ain't good," Jean muttered as she looked around for Storm. Not seeing the mutant, she motioned the others to follow her. Everyone was battle ready, not sure where the next strike was coming from.

As they moved forward down the path, Jean opened her senses to look for Ororo. She frowned when she didn't find anything. "I can't sense Storm," she informed her team. "She must be wearing a blocker to insure we can't 'cheat'."

Cat frowned. "Wouldn't that technically be cheating?"

"No, it's called evening the battlefield," Jean said with a small smile. She noticed that the trees cleared out a little further ahead. "She's going to have a clear shot when we have to cross the clearing. We need to find a way to distract her so we can cross."

Nodding the others looked around. "It'll take a little longer," Cat said, "but we could try circling the clearing so we didn't have to pass through the open area."

Nodding, Jean took stock of the situation. "I really don't like the idea of losing more time to Scott's team. Ladybug, can you use your Lucky Charm to get us something to hide us from view?"

"That's not going to be helpful in the long run," Ladybug informed. "After I use my Lucky Charm I have to drop my transformation after 5 minutes. Recharging would take longer than going around the clearing would."

Jean nodded. "Alright, then we'll go around the clearing. Let's get moving."

As they started to work their way around the clearing a strong gust of wind sent them hurtling backwards straight into the clearing. Storm was hovering in a mass of clouds that had kept her hidden from the team.

The group dropped into ready stances as they proceeded to try to make their way across the clearing. However, every time they made a move to get across the clearing a bolt of lightning or a strong wind would block their path.

"Looks like we are goin' have to engage, petite," Gambit said as he charged as card and threw it towards Storm. It exploded in front of her and succeeded in knocking her off balance for a bit giving Ladybug a chance to wrap her yoyo around Storm's ankle and pull her to the ground. Once she was down they tried once more to move to the other side of the clearing.

Storm had not taken kindly to the hard landing thanks to Ladybug and proceeded to call a whirlwind that picked up the heroes and tossed them around the clearing. This gave Storm the chance to rise back up to see everything clearly. After 30 seconds, she dropped the group back at the entrance of the clearing. It was obvious that the spinning had turned them around as they headed back into the woods on wobbly legs.

"Alright, going around isn't going to work. Are you willing to try your lucky charm?" Jean looked at Ladybug who shrugged.

"We can try it or we can just take her out," Cat answered for her. "I didn't hear anywhere in the little briefing that said we couldn't engage hostiles if we came across them. She was pretty ticked when LB pulled her to the ground. Does anyone have any rope to where we could tie her up until we get further down the trail?"

Jean nodded in thought. "That's true. I never would have considered taking her out since she is a friend. But you are correct, she is an opponent in this training session. I have some rope in my bag. We could use it."

Rogue and Gambit nodded. They had also packed ropes because they did not know what traps Wolverine had laid out.

"Alright, Ladybug will grab Storm and pull her down so we can tie her up. Gambit, do you think you can distract her with one of your cards again?"

"Ah don' t'ink dat will work twice, petite, but we'll give it a try. What's de backup plan for distracting her?"

"Ah could make her think ah'm coming after her. Cat could lift me up on his staff and drop me from behind. She'll move to avoid me and Ladybug can get her."

"What about you, chere? If you don't get Storm you're gonna get hurt from a fall at dat height."

"You'll just have to catch me then Swamp Rat," Rogue smirked at Remy who just smirked back.

"Or I could catch you telekinetically," Jean rolled her eyes at the flirting.

Rogue shrugged. "Sure, if ya wanna do it the easy way." The group allowed themselves a small laugh as they prepared to head back into the clearing.

"Ready," Jean questioned. When she received nods they all rushed back out of the woods. Remy charged a card and threw it at Storm who pushed it away with a gust of wind. It succeeded in distracting her from Rogue and Cat behind her but only for a couple of seconds. Rogue was almost on her back when she flew out of the way. With everything else going on she missed Ladybug twirling her yoyo and grabbing her ankle. Once they had pulled Storm back to the ground and Rogue was also safely back on terra firma Jean and Remy quickly moved towards Storm to tie her up.

Storm had other ideas however and called on a strong wind to push everyone back. Rogue and Ladybug worked on circling around while Remy and Jean distracted storm with exploding cards and telekinetic blasts. Cat climbed a tree and waiting for Storm to get in the right position to pounce.

Once she was under the branch he was on, he pounced only to be blown straight up by a gust of wind. With a yelp, he started on a downward trajectory. Luckily, Jean was able to grab him before he hit. This freed up Storm to blow Gambit into a tree hard knocking the wind out of him.

With her attention split between those three she did not hear Ladybug and Rogue until it was too late. Ladybug wrapped her up in her yoyo string while Rogue touched her just long enough to knock her out for a couple of minutes.

Rogue quickly pushed all the thoughts she absorbed from Storm to the back of her mind as she and Ladybug rushed to check on the rest of their team. "We don't have much time before she comes to. Let's get outta here," Rogue pulled a shaken Gambit to his feet as they quickly made their way to the other side of the clearing.

"Let's hope that Scott's team is having a difficult time too," Jean murmured as they quickly but carefully made their way down the trail.

"And ah'll have to remember to stop underestimating Logan," Rogue agreed. "Ah made the mistake of saying he was losing his touch after Ladybug and ah fell into a pit that was easy to get out of. Apparently, he was just warming up."

They followed the trail to the entrance to a cave. Jean checked the map a few times to make sure they were actually supposed to go into the cave. Frowning, she decided that they needed to get moving again and led the way into the cave.

Once inside they quickly pulled flashlights out of their packs. Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't have to worry about packing things like that since their weapons provided them with anything they needed while transformed. They walked down the path checking for any trip wires or hidden weapons. The cave was pretty dank and it looked like no one had been in it for a long time. They had been walking for about 10 minutes when they heard a rumbling coming from behind them.

"Please don't tell me Logan has gone all Indiana Jones on us," Rogue grumbled.

They listened for a few more minutes before realizing that the sound had stopped. Curious, they turned their flashlights behind them. Not knowing what the sound was or what trap could be coming for them they decided to walk back towards the sound to see what had happened. They had only walked for about a minute when they heard another sound behind them.

"That came from the direction we were headed," Jean frowned. "What is going on here?" As if to answer their question they found that a bunch of rocks now blocked the entrance to the cave.

"If that sound meant we were trapped from exiting the cave from this direction does that mean we're stuck in here?" Ladybug was getting a little freaked out. She did not want to get stuck in a cave. Cat put a reassuring arm around his lady.

"Don't worry bugaboo," he said softly. "We'll get out of here. If nothing else we have your Lucky Charm and my Cataclysm to get those rocks moved."

Nodding the spotted heroine started walking back in the direct they just back tracked from. The team wasn't that surprised when they found that direction had been blocked off as well.

"Alright, we need a plan," Jean said. "I can lift some of the rocks off telekinetically but there is no guarantee that if I move the wrong rock it won't come sliding down and crush us. Gambit, do you think that you could charge a card and blow a hole in it?"

Gambit shook his head. "Ah would have de same issue. If ah used too much charge it could cause de ceiling to collapse on us. If ah don' use enough charge den it could dislodge a rock and cause dat to collapse."

"Good thing we haven't used my Lucky Charm yet," Ladybug commented. "I can use it and hope that it gives us something that will protect us as we try to move the rocks."

Rogue nodded, "That's a good plan. Let's try moving some of the rocks by hand so we can get an idea of how thick this blockade is."

The team started to move some of the smaller rocks being careful not to disturb any that looked like they were supporting the bigger rocks. They found that it looked as if the rocks were thick enough to where they would not be able to tunnel out by hand but not so thick that one of Gambit's cards couldn't take care of them.

"Lucky Charm," Ladybug called. When it dropped into her hands she saw that she had what looked like a box. Frowning she studied the box and found a button. When she pushed the button, it opened into a half dome. It was made from a weird material that was red with black spots. As she studied the area to figure out where to set up she noticed that spots highlighted the area just about where they had made their little hole and then the area against the wall on the right-hand side of the cavern.

"Alright, Gambit, can you charge a card and have it hold off exploding for a bit so you will have time to get back here with us?" The Cajun nodded and the spotted hero moved to put the dome up in the spot she was shown. "Alright, we are going to need you to put the card here." She indicated the area right about the hole they had made. "Then get back here with the rest of us."

Gambit did as he was told and joined the rest of the group just as his card exploded. The force of the explosion almost made the little dome shake off the wall it was leaning against. Once the dust had settled the group moved to see how it had worked. It had worked to get the first set of rocks moved out of the way but they soon discovered that another set of rocks was blocking the passage. These looked to have been there for quite some time since they had some moss growing on them from the little droplets of water that was dripping from the ceiling.

"Alright, my turn," Cat said. "Cataclysm!" After he called his power Cat jumped towards the pile of rocks and touched the center of them. The cataclysm moved up and down the rocks turning them into a fine powder as they fell to the ground.

The group quickly made their way further thru the cave and found themselves in a clearing when they finally exited the cave. At the center of the clearing was a bundle. They figured that was their target and started walking towards it as Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous' beeped at them, reminding them they only had a couple of minutes before detransforming. Seeing there was nothing else around the clearing they started making their way quickly but carefully towards the bundle.

Everybody was a little startled when the bundle started to move. "What the heck is going on?" Rogue was the closest and pulled the blanket off only to find Warren Worthington III looking up at her.

"Did Logan kidnap a multimillionaire just for training?" Ladybug yelped as she recognized Warren from various magazines he had been featured in.

"No," Jean said with a small laugh. "Warren is a mutant, also known around New York as the Angel." Rogue was working on untying him when Scott's group made his way into the clearing. Once Scott's group arrived they were attacked by a purple haired ninja. She had long hair that went down to her butt and was wearing a purple bathing suit that matched her hair and eyes. She had thigh high boots of the same color that were flat and looked to be made of soft material to make it easier to sneak around.

The whole group stopped and blinked for a second. They were unfamiliar with this opponent. They quickly regrouped and formed a united front to face this new opponent.

"Guys," Ladybug whispered to Rogue and Jean, "Cat and I are about to detransform. We're not going to be much help here."

Jean looked around, "Head to that nearby group of trees and take care of whatever you need to and then get back out here." Nodding the two French heroes took off.

They were quickly cut off by the Canadian feral mutant that had arranged the training session. They quickly slid to a stop and looked around for another escape route as their miraculous beep again warning them they only had 1 minute before their transformations dropped.

"Logan, we don't have time for this," Cat tried to reason with the mutant in front of them.

"You guys need to be able to defend yourselves without your magic too. Besides, we're about to even the playing field." With a wave of his hand a pulse of energy washed across the field. Scott turned and tried to blast Wolverine out of the Ladybug and Chat Noir's way only to find that his powers weren't working.

At the same time Ladybug and Cat Noir lost their transformations and turned back into Marinette and Adrien. Gob smacked they both just stood there and stared at the other. "Well, this is not how I expected our reveal to go," Adrien said as he caught a silent Plagg. Frowning he looked down at the Kwami that was usually demanding cheese very vocally as soon as he was out of the miraculous.

Marinette had a similar concern as she caught a very still Tikki. "Tikki," she questioned as she tried to wake the little creature. "What happened to Tikki?" Marinette was on the verge of tears as she rounded on Logan. "What did you do? Why isn't Tikki moving?"

Logan looked a little shocked. "Leech has the ability to nullify energy fields. I was trying to teach the kids how to not rely on their powers while fighting. I didn't know it would affect your whatever you called them. Take them about a half mile down this path. It should be far enough away from Leech's powers to not affect them anymore."

Nodding the two teens set off at a run into the woods. Once they were about 300 meters away the Kwamis started to stir a little. This gave the teens hope and so they sped up as much as they could. Once they were a half mile away the Kwamis were fully aware of what was going on.

"Oh, Tikki," Marinette cried with tears running down her cheeks. "I was so scared something permanent had happened to you." She quickly dug a cookie out of her purse for the little red and black creature.

"What happened," Marinette heard another small voice ask.

"Plagg, you're alright," Adrien was so happy to see his Kwami moving around that he had no qualms about the smell of the camembert he pulled out of his shirt pocket.

Now that they were sure their Kwamis were alright the two realized what had happened. "Ummm, hi," Marinette gave a small wave as she scuffed her foot at the dirt path while avoiding Adrien's gaze.

"Hi," Adrien answered back. He was trying to wrap his head around the fact that Marinette was his lady. At least that would explain why I'm attracted to Marinette even though I love Ladybug, who is Marinette so technically I've been in love with Marinette this entire time. But what does she think about me? She can barely talk to me as Adrien. What if she still hates me for the gum thing last year. Or maybe she's scared of me because of my dad.

As Adrien was trying to work things out Marinette was having an anxiety attack of her own. Oh no, what happens now. No wonder Tikki didn't want us to reveal ourselves to the other. How am I supposed to act around Adrien now? How am I supposed to act around Cat? I still can't believe they are the same people. Adrien doesn't act anything like Cat Noir. What am I supposed to do now? I thought I knew Adrien but apparently I don't. What does this mean for our friendship? What does it mean for the crush I've had on him?

The Kwamis were floating in the air now that their strength was coming back watching their holders mentally freak out.

Plagg finally had enough. "You know, your friends are back there fighting that purple haired ninja person. Shouldn't you be helping them?"

The teens were so lost in thought that they didn't hear the black cat talking to them. With a frown, he flew in between the two and bopped both on their foreheads. This startled them out of their thoughts. "What do you want Plagg? I have to conserve your cheese supply to make it through until tomorrow evening," Adrien grumped at the black flying cat.

Plagg frowned. "I was saying that you two should go back and help with the fight with the purple haired girl back there."

"You're right," Marinette agreed. "You two stay here and we'll be back as soon as we can." With that she ran off back down the path. Adrien quickly followed her.

"We need to talk about this when we get back to camp," he said as they ran together down the path. Marinette frowned but nodded.

As the two re-entered the clearing they saw that Logan and the purple haired girl was doing a pretty good job of keeping the mutants from getting to Warren. The two had been gone about 15 minutes for the round trip so there had been quite a bit of fighting going on. They saw that Amanda was limping and sporting some bruises. The rest of the team weren't fairing much better. Kitty was doing alright holding her own thanks to Ninjutsu training Logan had been giving her. Rogue and Gambit were also faring better as they also had some martial arts training. Rogue's power was only useful if she could get close to someone so hand to hand combat was mandatory training for her and all thieves in the Guild received Martial Arts training to help with coordination, balance, and body control.

As Rogue once again went up against the ninja and Remy went up against Logan, Kitty and Nightcrawler snuck around the back to get to Warren. They were almost there when Logan and the girl managed to knock Rogue and Remy back enough to round on the new opponents. Kurt tried to 'port away with Warren only to remember that he didn't have his powers now. Luckily, he had his fencing abilities and could use those to parry some of the blows the girl threw his direction.

When Kitty and Kurt were knocked back from Warren the group once more came together. It seemed that if they weren't trying to get to Warren they weren't going to get attacked so that meant that they could form a strategy during the breather.

Scott frowned as he studied the situation. Apparently going head to head one at a time wasn't working. They needed to double up on the opponents while the others worked their way around to Warren. "Alright guys, I have a plan." The group stepped a little closer to their leader to see what he was thinking. "Obviously, this one on one thing is not working in our favor. I need two groups of three. I want one group to attack Wolverine and the other to attack the new girl. That leaves 4 of us to circle around and get Warren out of there. Marinette and Adrien, do you guys have any hand to hand combat training?"

"I was in karate for a bit a few years ago but that's about it," Adrien shrugged. "I do take fencing lessons every Friday if that can be helpful."

Marinette just shook her head, "No training for me except what I've learned as Ladybug."

Scott nodded. "Alright. Adrien, Kurt, and Remy I want you to attack the girl. She's using a sword so your fencing skills might come in handy. It will at least give you an advantage on reading where she is going to strike."

"Kitty and Rogue, you're with me. We're going to distract Logan. That means that Jean, Colossus, Marinette, and Amanda are going to circle around and get Warren out of there. You four do not engage anyone unless forced to." The group nodded and on Scott's signal they went acted on their orders.

It went fairly smoothly when they finally decided to attack in mass instead of trying to be civil and fight one on one. After another 15 minutes of bangs and bruises for the six fighters they were relieved when Warren was announcing he had been freed.

"Alright, good job." Logan grunted. He was about to signal Leech to turn the power back on when suddenly Remy grabs Rogue and kisses her.

"What are you doing Gumbo," Logan growled as he jumped forward and threw Gambit into a tree away from Rogue who had a dumbfounded look on her face.

Shaking his head, Remy wobbled to his feet. "Ah saw an opportunity and ah took it." At that point the energy dampener was released. Remy soon found himself starring at the world upside down from a tree branch with a very angry Kurt holding him up by the ankle.

"Kurt," Rogue yelled. "Stop it! It was just a kiss. You act like he tried to defile me right here in front of everyone. Put him down!"

"Ok, Schweitzer," Kurt smirked as he dropped Remy, who would have landed head first on the forest floor if Jean hadn't grabbed him telekinetically and set him nicely on the ground.

It looked like another argument was about to erupt when suddenly there was lightning all around them. "That is ENOUGH," Storm bellowed from above. "It has been a long, exhausting day. We will head back to camp, introduce everyone properly to Betsy, Leech and Warren, get some food and then have a rational discussion. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," was heard from everyone in the group. They turned and started walking back to camp eventually pairing off the talk amongst themselves. The girls found themselves in a clump trying to get information from Rogue about the kiss.

"Wow, that was, like, so crazy romantic. Is he as good a kisser as he claims to be?" Kitty interrogated Rogue as they walked.

"Since ah don't have anything to compare it against ah don't think ah can answer." Rogue's face was red at the thought of being kissed in such a way.

"I have to agree with Kitty," Marinette broke in. "That was way romantic." The rest of the girls nodded their agreement before turning on Marinette.

"So, you're Ladybug, huh," Kitty said as she studied the bluenette. "I had a hunch you were but no hard proof. I know Amanda and Rogue had mentioned the idea as well."

The two girls nodded while Jean added, "I knew from the time we went to lunch with you on the first day. You thought patterns don't change that much from when you are a civilian to when you are Ladybug. They just have more static. I'm guessing that's from the magic you use to transform?"

Marinette shrugged, "Probably, which reminds me. Tikki!" Marinette stopped and looked around thinking they should be close to where they left the Kwamis.

"Who's Tikki," Amanda questioned.

"She's a little magical creature who gives me my powers. We had to get her and Plagg out of the range of Leech's powers because he made them comatose or something." Marinette continued to look around and call for her Kwami.

Tikki popped up a couple of minutes later yawning. "Sorry Marinette. We needed some sleep to fully recover our strength after that little fiasco."

Marinette pulled her Kwami to her and hugged her as best she could. "Guys, this is Tikki. Tikki, these are the X-Women, well, most of them."

"Hi guys," Tikki said. "I was hoping we would never meet because then you would know Marinette's secret, but apparently that ship has sail," Tikki giggled a little at that.

"You're adorable," Kitty squealed. "Hey, Marinette, how do you feel about Adrien being Chat Noir?"

"I'm not really sure," Marinette replied. "I thought that I knew Adrien but he's never really been like Chat. Don't get me wrong, Chat is fantastic. He's my best friend besides Alya. But his puns drive me nuts and he's always flirting. Those aren't qualities I've ever seen in Adrien. I'm conflicted." Marinette sighed as her shoulders sagged.

"You sound like Rogue talking about Remy," Kitty giggled. "Although Rogue has some good points about Remy, I can say that from what I have seen on Alya's blog and since meeting you guys that Ladybug is the only one he really flirts with." Kitty put her arm around Marinette's shoulders. "Try not to stress about it. Once we're back you two can talk and things will be fine."

The group chit chatted about random thoughts as they made their way back to the camp. Once they arrived at the camp they were introduced to Betsy Braddock, Warren Worthington III, and Dorian Leech. It turned out that everyone but Remy, Marinette, and Adrien had already met Warren after he helped them with Apocalypse. He had met Elizabeth while touring through Europe. Her family was from England and she did some modeling.

Adrien was aware of this because his dad had used her for some of his female perfume ads. Once everyone met Leech Adrien wandered over to talk to Elizabeth much to Marinette's annoyance. She might not know what to think after discovering he was Cat Noir but she was still jealous when he talked with another woman. Especially one that was scantily clad and seemed to ooze sensuality.

Kitty patted her on the back as she walked by and whispered, "You can always get back at him by talking the Warren. He's a sweet guy and good looking as well." With a wink, she continued with helping gather wood for the fire because, let's face it, nobody would eat anything if she did any of the actual cooking.

Marinette decided to take Kitty's advice and headed over to talk with the blonde mutant who was currently catching up with Rogue. As she walked up the two turned to greet her. "Hi," Marinette said shyly. "So, how did you two meet?"

Rogue smiled at Warren, "It was over Christmas a year ago. There were reports about an Angel catching purse snatchers and such and we figured it meant we had found another mutant. It was just Scott and me there over the break so we talked the Prof into letting us try to recruit him. Magneto was trying to recruit him as well and we ended up fighting together to get Magneto to back off."

"Wow! That was some Christmas break you had." Marinette watched the two. It didn't seem like there was anything more than friendship between the two mutants. "How come you didn't go with them and join the X-Men?" Marinette asked.

Warren shrugged, "My parents didn't know about my wings and I wasn't ready to tell them. So, I opted to stay home and head back to finish my last year at boarding school. Now that I have graduated and my parents are traveling more I have been considering joining them. But then I met Betsy at a party in Berlin and we hit it off. So, I've been traveling with her to different modeling gigs."

"And what are Betsy's powers?" Marinette and Rogue both looked expectantly at Warren.

"She's a telepath that project her ability into a psychic blade that can be used to pierce a person's mind and render them unconscious."

"Wicked," Marinette said. "It's a good thing she isn't a bad guy." The three laughed. As they shared stories about school and other activities they were called over to eat. While Marinette had been talking with Warren and Rogue Adrien had been watching while chatting with Betsy.

"Good to see you again Betsy," Adrien greeted as he walked up to her.

"Hey Adrien," Betsy greeted with a hug and kisses on both checks. "You're growing up well. How did you get involved in the superhero business?"

Adrien shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. "Happenstance. I was chosen by the Guardian to be the holder of the Black Cat miraculous. It's been a blast. Gets me out of the house." He chuckled at the last part.

"And it looks like you met a special someone," Betsy grinned.

It always freaked Adrien out when she was able to pull information like that out of the air. "What are your powers? And when did you learn Ninjutsu?"

Betsy laughed her throaty laugh. "I can read minds, dear. And I've been trained in the art of Ninjutsu since I could walk. My father and mother wanted my brother and I to be able to defend ourselves should anyone get the bright idea to kidnap us. Not that they had much to worry about after we hit puberty and developed our powers. My brother is super strong and can fly. I always wanted to fly but being about to produce a blade in my hand is a nice substitution."

"That's really awesome," Adrien said excited. Plagg was sitting on his shoulder and had to agree.

"What does the blade look like," Plagg asked. He was intrigued with the purple haired ninja. "And has your hair always been purple?"

Betsy laughed again. "My hair is naturally blonde but everyone always loved my eye color so I decided to make my hair match." With that explained she quickly turned her back to the camp to show Adrien and Plagg the purple blade that extended from her hand. It was about 4 inches long and just a little wider then her hand. "This will render any person unconscious. If I choose I can completely destroy that person's brain. I learned that the hard way one time when a guy jumped me in an alley on my way home one night about 2 years ago."

"That's rough," Adrien said as he placed his hand on her arm. Betsy smiled at him.

"Thanks, Adrien." Smiling deviously, she brought the subject back around when she noticed Adrien staring at Marinette across the camp. "Nice job on sidetracking our conversation but it's time to get back to your special person." She waggled her eyebrows at the blonde boy who let out a laugh.

"She's amazing. She's strong, confident, kind, and caring. I should have seen that she was Marinette earlier. They both have a lot of the same qualities." Adrien trails off as he watches Marinette turn and start walking towards the seats around the fire.

Betsy waves her hand in front of his face, "Man, you've got it bad. You have to talk to her after dinner. Who knows, she might feel the same way about you." With that she smirked and worked her way towards Warren. They greeted each other with a kiss before getting heckled by the rest of the group. Leech was watching everything from the sidelines while eating the food Ororo handed him.

After dinner was all finished and the food and dishes cleaned up Adrien worked his way over to Marinette. "Mari, we really need to talk."

Marinette squeaked in surprise before composing herself and nodding. "You sure are a sneaky kitty, aren't you?" She teased as she walked with him off into the forest a little way for some privacy.

Adrien smiled shyly. Now that they were alone he wasn't sure what to say. Marinette wasn't sure either so they both stood there in awkward silence until Tikki and Plagg broke in.

"Plagg!" Tikki air tackled her friend who just laughed and hugged her back.

"Tikki," Plagg laughed, "you're going to cut my air supply off if you squeeze my neck any harder." The two holders smiled at their Kwamis as they continued their reunion.

"They sure are happy to see each other, aren't they," Marinette said with a smile as she continued to watch.

"Yeah, they are." Adrien scuffed his shoe against the dirt. "Are you upset that I'm Cat Noir?"

Marinette looked surprised, "I'm not upset. Just surprised really. I mean, you don't act anything like Cat Noir at school or any time I've been around you. I just realized that I don't know you as well as I thought. I mean, if anyone is going to be disappointed it should be you! I'm nothing like Ladybug, I'm clumsy, shy, and unsure while she's brave and never trips over her own feet."

Adrien put a hand on her shoulder to get her to quit pacing. "Mari, you are more like Ladybug then you give yourself credit for. For one thing, you are the same person," Adrien grinned a lopsided grin at her causing her to chuckle.

"True," she said. "But still, the mask is the confident version."

"I don't know. You've stood up to Chloe, you're our class representative, and you've designed glasses and an album cover for Jagged Stone. How can you say you are nothing like Ladybug?" Adrien looked at her.

Marinette thought about what he said. "I guess you're right. Before I became Ladybug, I wouldn't have had the courage to do those things. But what about you? You're a sweet, kind, friendly guy at school who never makes puns or flirts with anyone!"

Adrien chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, when I'm Cat I'm free to be who I want to be. As Adrien, I have to watch everything I say and do because of my father's company. But I can just have fun. And in my defense, I only flirt with you."

Marinette studied him for a few seconds. "Well, maybe it's time to get to know each other a little better."

"Well, there is one thing I was curious about," Adrien said, not making eye contact.

"What," Marinette questioned as she tried to get a look at his face.

"How come you stutter around me?" Adrien's face turned red as he blurted the question out.

As soon as the question was out Marinette's face also turned red. "Well," she scuffed at the ground with the toe of her shoe, "you see, I have a crush on you." She spit it out as quickly as Adrien had asked.

Adrien raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? So, it's not because I intimidate you or something?"

Marinette laughed. "No. Why would I be intimidated? I'm not like Chloe who thinks that status is everything. It's just that you're so kind and friendly and when you gave me your umbrella and it closed on me and you laughed a real laugh, I don't know." Marinette cut herself off when she realized she was babbling.

Adrien laughed at the blush that covered her entire face. It was the same laugh as the day of the umbrella incident which caused Marinette to blush harder. "Come on," Adrien said as put an arm around her shoulders. "We've been gone a while and the others will be wondering where we are."

Marinette nodded as she tried to keep from freaking out about the fact that Adrien Agreste had his arm around her shoulders. As they walked back into camp they received some smug looks and Marinette knew she was going to be interrogated when it was time for sleep. And she was right.

As soon as Logan called for everyone to turn in Kitty, Rogue, Amanda and Jean pounced. "What happened out there? Are you guys together now? Did he kiss you?"

Marinette laughed at the barrage of questions. "No, we are not together now and he did not kiss me. We decided that we should get to know each other better. We'll see where things go from there. There's always hope, right?"

The girls grinned. They talked for a bit longer before they were told firmly to 'stop the yapping and get to napping' by some of the guys. With a last laugh, the girls turned in for the night. Once they stopped talking the physical toll of the day caught up with them and they were quick to fall asleep.

XXX

This chapter was a bit longer then I originally thought it would be. Let me know what you think and the next chapter will wrap up the weekend. It doesn't seem to matter what I have planned out when I start a story, the characters and storyline always seem to twist on me. LOL. I hope you enjoyed!