Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or Spiderman or any other Marvel characters I may or may not bring in (I seriously don't plan on bringing in any more, but who knows?)

Chapter 9

Rogue groaned at the knock on the door and checked the clock. Three PM. Damn, how'd they sleep so long?

She scrounged up her underwear and Logan's plaid shirt form the floor and threw them on, struggling as she buttoned the shirt up most of the way, giving up when the important things were covered. When the knock came again, she yelled, "I'm coming!"

Knowing already who was on the other side of the door, she opened it, leaned against the frame, and said a little groggily, "Hi, Remy."

The Cajun's eyes immediately roamed her semi-exposed body with a hungry look. "Am I welcomed in, Cherie?"

A coy smile came across her lips. "I'm sorry, but this party's invitation only."

"Well, that's a shame," he replied, cocking an eyebrow. "I do enjoy a good party."

Logan, who'd finally woken up and slipped into a pair of jeans, came up behind Rogue, wrapping a protective arm around her waist and placed a kiss on her neck. "Get lost," he growled at Gambit with a smile. "Kinda busy, you know."

"I just came by to suggest that we get going," Gambit said, gesturing toward the parking garage. "So get your clothes on, we're leaving in five."

Rogue closed the door on him and turned to face Logan. "Mornin'," she said with a soft smile.

"Mornin'," he replied, kissing her gently on the lips while he pressed her against the door. "You know… we have five minutes…" He wrapped his arms around her lower waist and pulled her close.

She looked up at him with her soft smile becoming sultry. "Oh, Logan, you know that it takes much longer than that."

"Wait… so you were really bitten by a radioactive spider?" Kitty asked Spiderman in disbelief.

Shortly after her brush with death, Spidey had web-swung them to the top of a building, where they would be out of the way of traffic. They sat with their backs up against the guard wall that kept people from falling off. "Yep, it's all true," he replied with a chuckle.

"That is so cool!" she said excitedly with a wide smile.

It looked as though he was looking directly at her, but it was hard for Kitty to tell through the mask. The white lenses reflected almost everything, warping the images around his head, making it hard to see what was going on under there. "Well, what about being an X-Men?" he asked, adjusting his web shooters. "That's gotta be pretty cool."

Her energy dropped, and she let her gaze fall to her shoes. With a shrug, she said, "I guess. At least, it was for a while. But there hasn't been much action lately, you know? It's mostly been classes at the institute, helping the new recruits, and taking care of those who received the cure and had their powers come back. And the people haven't really been all that great lately…"

He stopped fiddling with the spinneret and looked at her. Or near her, at least, the eyes still threw her a bit. "Why's that?" he asked in a sincere voice.

She shook her head. "Nuh-uh, no way. I'm not opening that can of worms." She looked away from him across the roof; he didn't need to know all of this.

"I like worms," he replied, waving his arms playfully. His body was fairly expressive to make up for the lack of facial expression, but it sounded like he was smiling.

Kitty looked up at him and chuckled. "Okay, but you asked for it."

After making the Cajun wait for another half hour, Rogue and Logan met him in the parking garage. "About time you showed," he drawled with a subtle annoyance.

"Sorry," Rogue replied in an unapologetic voice as she straddled the bike, "we got a little distracted."

"I had a right mind to leave you," he said, leaning against his car.

"But you didn't," Logan replied tightening the helmet he wore simply to avoid police attention. "So what's the plan?"

"Well," Gambit started, "I'm a might peckish. I say we get food and hit the road."

"Lead the way," Logan instructed him, joining Rogue on the bike.

As they rode in silence, Rouge held onto Logan's middle tightly, watching the scenery go by. She felt at peace for a few minutes before they arrived at a small café. The three went inside and took over a table in the back.

Cutting right to the chase, Gambit looked to Rogue, leaned across the table so no one outside the three could hear and said, "I don't appreciate being lied to. I thought you couldn't touch anyone, girl. "

Rogue shrugged. "I ain't lying, I thought so, too."

A smirk crossed his face. "I suppose that means that I could just…" he started to say as his hand reached over the table, going for her bare wrist.

Logan caught his hand before it got to her. "She still knocked out the guy in the bar," he reminded him, "and I don't like your tone of voice. I would change it if I were you."

Gambit pulled his hand back quickly. "Then I'm afraid that I don't understand. What is going on with your powers?" His eyes narrowed in confusion, as if squinting at her would suddenly bring light to the situation.

She shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine." She sat back in her chair. Three people leaning in like that draws some attention.

"It just gives us another reason to get back home," Logan said pointedly, looking at her. "Let's get our food so we can get on the road."

Kitty finished telling Spiderman all about her life at the mansion. She spared no detail, even explaining all about Rogue and Bobby. There was nothing about the past few years that Spiderman didn't know about.

"So you overhead Bobby telling Rogue about how he was having feelings for Tabby," he reiterated, "and so you got upset and took off?" His legs were crossed and he was leaning in intently.

She nodded. "I know. I'm not sure what I was thinking. It just seemed to work for Rogue." Kitty pulled her feet closer to her as she tried to make herself into the smallest ball she could.

"And where's Rogue now?" he asked, making a point to keep the appearance of eye contact.

Kitty shrugged, looking to her feet again. "I don't know. Wandering around the country with Wolverine, I think. It's been a while since he left to get her and no one has heard from them in a few weeks."

He chuckled. "Is that really where you wanna be?"

A smile came over her lips, and she chuckled a little. "No, I guess not. I just…" She sighed, returning to the solemn tone of before. "I just don't want to go back there yet. I need to take a break from the mansion."

There was a moment of silence before Spiderman hopped to his feet with more flourish then necessary. As he landed, he said, "Come on, I got a place for you to crash." He reached out his hand and Kitty grabbed it, pulling herself to her feet.

Bobby knocked on Kitty's door. He hadn't seen her since she said that she wasn't feeling well that afternoon. It worried him.

When there wasn't an answer, he knocked again. Still no answer. He reached for the doorknob when a familiar voice sighed out, "She's not there." There was a bit of a whine to it as there always was when he spoke.

He turned; coming face to face with Wither. The kid had a propensity for sneaking up behind people and croaking something cryptic. And it seemed like that kid never smiled, and that his eyes were always half open, like he wasn't really awake. "Oh, hey, Wither," Bobby replied. "Do you know where she is?"

Wither shrugged. "I don't know. I saw her phase through the back fence a few hours ago. She had a suitcase and backpack with her." He blew his hair out of his eyes.

"Wait…" Bobby said, trying to process this and shaking his head. "When was this?"

"I told you," Wither replied in a bored tone, looking back into his book, "a few hours ago."

"Thanks," the older mutant growled. "You're a real help."

Wither just glared after him over his book as he ran off down the hall. "No problem."

By the time Hank and Raven arrived back at the mansion, the blue had spread over her chest, both arms, and was starting up her neck. The scales were spreading as well.

"Don't worry, Raven," he reassured her jovially, "we'll take good care of you here." He patted her on the shoulder as she got out of the car.

"I can't believe this is back," she said softly. "It's just so weird." She looked at her hands; she hadn't been able to look away since they got off the private jet from DC.

"Yes," Hank replied as he led her down the pathways to the door. "I'm doing some research right now to figure out what exactly causes a cured mutant's abilities to return. However, so far, none seem to be consistent with each other."

Raven's eyes traced the crown molding on the vaulted ceilings as they walked through the halls. The building was much nicer then she remembered it. The kids looked at her as she followed Hank through the labyrinth of twisting and winding halls and corridors. The prying eyes made her feel uncomfortable, it was like they all knew that any second she could look as blue as the seven foot mutant in front of her. And that's when she looked at him, and for the first time in a long time really noticed how proudly and how powerfully he walked. He was so different from the other people around him but didn't let it bother him.

"So it's different for every mutant?" she asked as they stopped outside of Storm's office.

"As far as I can tell," he replied. He gestured her through the door and said, "After you."

They stepped into the room, where the headmistress was taking a phone call. She held up a finger to them, letting them know that she knew they were there and that she would be getting to them in a moment. "Thank you, I'll be waiting for your call." She hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of her nose, nursing a quickly occurring headache. "Hello, Hank," she said, opening her eyes and looking up. "What can I help you with?"

"This is Raven Darkhölme, formerly known as… uh, Mystique," he explained, catching Storm's full attention. He knew that her mutant name would ring a bell. "She works with me in Mutant-Human Relations, and her powers have started to return.

Storm looked her over. "Yes, I can see that," she said. "Well, we can most certainly help her here, but at the moment we have a bit of a crisis."

"Oh?" Hank asked. "And what kind of crisis would that be?"

She sighed. "It appears that Kitty Pryde has run away."

AN: Pretty low-key chapter, but it helps along with forming more stories that I plan on unleashing on you guys. So yeah. Anyway, reviews would be great.