Define Normal

School, Video games, Raking leaves. These are all normal things, that people do everyday. Add in sugar rushes, sworn enemies and budget cuts, however, and it just seems insane.

Starring: Gambit,Rogue,Cyclops, Wolverine, and the rest.

Disclaimer:

I don not own the X-men in any form.

Chapter Ten

" The Moment of Truth"

Remy had behaved all day Saturday. He wanted to be free Sunday as promised so that he could take Rogue to the mall and show her the game. Meanwhile Scott had taken Remy's advise to heart. He hadn't shaved after his shower this morning, his clothes were rumpled, and his side of the room was just as messy as Remy's. Now that he no longer was worried about upsetting Jean he was playing the music he normally liked (and Jean hated) as loud as possible and had refused to come down to the morning DR session.

Everyone assumed Scott was depressed, that the break up had finally sunk in and he was reacting to it. Since they were all being so understanding, Remy decided not to enlighten anyone. When Xavier asked him to go upstairs and keep Scott company instead of finishing his afternoon chores, Remy readily agreed, mumbling something about leaving depressed people alone was a bad idea.

As soon as he got to their room, Remy explained what had happened and how they were all excusing Scott. Knowing that he wasn't in trouble, Scott was pleased and continued to sit on his bed listening to music. Remy sat there with him as ordered, and they spent the rest of the day making fun of various others in the Institute.

~o~O~o~

Early the next morning Remy confirmed that they were no longer grounded and that he could have his phone back. Being a Sunday they had no training this morning, so he crept into Rogue's room, covered her mouth with a gloved hand and whispered. "It's time to get going."

He once again found himself moaning on the floor holding himself as Rogue apologized. "Skay, cher. Not like I was plannin on having any kids right now anyway." Remy moaned.

Kitty, who had woken when Remy screamed as he hit the floor, giggled at this and she got up to go tell the others everything was fine. A few minutes later Remy and Rogue came downstairs, Remy was still limping and Rogue was helping him along. She asked politely if they could go to the mall so that Remy could show her the new game that he claimed was great.

Xavier gave them permission and with in minutes they were in the car, Rogue driving while Remy held an icepack in his lap. They arrived a few minutes later and Remy felt he had recovered enough to ignore the pain and stop babying himself, in other words wouldn't let Rogue help him anymore.

Ten minutes later, Rogue squealed loudly and jumped into Remy's arms (accidentally kneeing him in the stomach) "Thank you thank you thank you! This was the best game ever, I can't believe I ever doubted you! I will never never ever question you judgment again!You are the best"

Remy smiled as he hugged her back resisting both the urge to gloat and the urge to once more double over in pain. Instead he suggested they return to the game. Rogue quickly agreed and fed the game another round of tokens.

~o~O~o~

Logan needed a new project to prove his superiority over Victor. He had the perfect one too, they needed to gather wood for the fireplace before winter, and kindling as well. Charles had, as usual order a large supply of firewood that needed to be cut and stacked. It had just arrived, which is how Logan came up with his idea. He could challenge Victor to a contest to see who could cut and stack the most firewood, and gather the most kindling from the woods.

Victor quickly accepted the challenge and they set to work. Much like before they quickly drew an audience. Eventually as the sun began to set, Ororo insisted the children go back inside for the evening since they had school in the morning. She then attempted to get the two men to come in as well but they did not respond.

With a sigh she went inside as dinner was being served. Charles at this point looked around and asked where Rogue and Remy were. "They went to the mall." Kitty replied. "They like didn't even invite me, and they've totally been gone all day."

"That was this morning." Xavier replied.

"And they aren't back yet!" Kitty replied, insulted that Rogue had spent the entire day in the mall without her.

"Do we know they are alright then?" Ororo asked.

"They're fine, they were going to the arcade. If they aren't back in about an hour though, you'll have to send someone to get them. Remy doesn't like to leave before security insists." John replied as they all served themselves from the casserole dishes in the center of the table. "Sometimes he won't leave even then, he just hides in the bathroom until it's all clear. Once Buckethead sent me to go find him cause he hadn't been back in about a week. He's been at the arcade the whole time. I had to set the game on fire to get him to leave...that part was fun, the black eye later wasn't"

~o~O~o~

When curfew came and went, and Remy and Rogue still hadn't returned, Charles decided to handle both problems at once. Logan and Victor were still chopping wood but the children were trying to get ready for bed. He rolled outside to where the men were competing and cleared his throat.

When they kept going, he cleared his throat a second time. When that still didn't work, he said. "Excuse me gentlemen, I don't want to interrupt, but it appears Remy and Rogue never returned home."

The reaction was immediate. In that his words shocked Logan enough that his hatchet slipped, requiring that he change his pants before leaving and Victor lost control of his own hatchet sending it flying into the woods...Charles was pretty sure he imagined the sound of a squirrel screaming from that direction, but he knew he saw one dive out of the way.

"Were they taken or did they run off?" Logan demanded, nursing his already healing wound. "I f they decided to do something stupid like run off to save someone with out telling us again, or to go to some convention, or worse to do something really stupid like elope I'm going to kill them, I'm going to kill them then bury their bodies so deep that no one will ever think of looking there. Then they will be grounded for the next decade."

"Logan they aren't missing. They simply missed curfew. They are at the arcade playing video games and have been all day. "Charles replied.

"I told that boy those games were going to rot away his brain but did he listen to me? Oh no instead he drags some girl along with him. That's it that boy is going to be so grounded he'll forget what the television even looks like before he's off restrictions! That girl should be punished too, before they ruin their lives with arcade games! Trust me I know what I am talking about. Back in '79 I had everything going for me. Big house, nice car, cushy job with Weapon X, Logan you remember you were there, then I found the local arcade. Next thing I knew I lost my house and car, and all of a sudden Weapon X was sending people to retrieve me. Logan you remember, you came for me. Then to make matters worse, they killed the game I was playing. I had never been more heartbroken in my life. I never stepped foot in an arcade again." Victor ranted.

"...I honestly don't remember any of that. I certainly don't remember you going to the arcade in the first place because I thought it would be better for over all morale than if you went to the bar and started a fight again." Logan replied.

"Yeah your right, I forgot you don't remember much anymore. I'll have to tell you about it sometime, but for now we need to go get the kids before their brains rot." Victor replied as the two of them headed toward the school van still discussing the incident that Logan claimed he didn't remember. Xavier shook his head. Over all the transition in combining their teams had been seamless, and now those two had finally set aside their differences, at least for now.

The End

AN: Thank you everyone reading. There will eventually be a sequel to this one, in a few weeks.