Disclaimer: I own nothing.  Except the original characters, and they belong to my brain, and my brain belongs to the pixies, so we're back to nothing again.  Besides, it's discrimination to sue the mentally unstable.

Rogue sat with Brightling, practicing mantras.  Frankly, she felt a little silly, especially seeing as sitting with Brightling, nice as she was, meant putting up with her sour brother.  Darkling sat just to the side of his sister, one hand on her shoulder.

"Emotional control is the key to the control of almost every mutation, Rogue." Brightling was saying.

~Yeah, and Ah've had this speech ten times already.~

Darkling chuckled.  "Getting bored?"
His sister turned on him.  "Reading minds again?"

"Oh gee, am I not wearing my 'I'm a telepath, ask me how' t-shirt?"

"You know what I mean!  Going into someone's head without permission…"

"Are you my sister, or my mother?  She wasn't paying attention anyway…"

As the fight escalated, Rogue backed out of the room – right into Shadow.

"Is practice over?"
 "It's looking that way.  Do ya always have ta sneak up like that?"
 "A bad habit.  I apologise." Shadow smiled.  "Actually, I was coming to find you – and the twins, although they look a little busy right now."

"Something actually happen 'round here?"

"We have another newcomer."

The meeting with the Professor was… interesting, to say the least.  Although it was already obvious that this place would be hell on his enhanced senses, what with the kids, it would probably be no worse then sharing close quarters with the stink of Vic and Toad.

He was only half listening to the speech he was receiving, picking up the relevant bits of information, while focusing on Ororo.

~Boy is Scott, Red is Jean.  I wonder if Ororo speaks Arabic?~

If she did, he had a few choice phrases for her.  It was one of those things – he couldn't quite remember when he'd learnt the language, although he did remember that sand stung and that camels were stubborn beasts, much more difficult to handle than a horse; although of course, he couldn't remember the last time he'd ridden a horse, either.

Chuck's offer to 'help' him in that respect stung.  He hadn't mentioned his memory loss out loud, and the thought of someone poking around in his mind…  Besides, what he could and couldn't remember was his own damn business.

The next bit was, in his mind, the best part of the day.  Ororo gave him a tour of the mansion, which mostly consisted of him trailing behind her, watching her hips swing back and forth.

Ororo finished the tour at the gardens, a small smile on her face.  She could feel his eyes on her back – well, a little lower than her back, most of the time, and it was nice to have a bit of an ego boost, living with Miss Jean the Perfect.  And she hadn't been wiggling her hips at all.  Nope, not flirting with the ex-terrorist.  Most certainly not.

Okay, maybe a little.

"Sooo…" she said, flopping down on a bench among the roses.  "Tell me about yourself."

"Nothing ta tell."

"Oh come on!" she said, flipping her hair over one shoulder (nope, still not flirting.)  "At least tell me why you joined the Brotherhood."

He shrugged.  "I was bored."

Ororo giggled.  "You joined a terrorist organization out of boredom?  You couldn't learn a musical instrument, or collect stamps, or something?"

He didn't answer that, just leaned forward, and in Arabic, said "Do you know you're beautiful when you laugh?"

Her breath caught in her throat at his words, but she moved away from him, all the same.

~Not flirting with the ex-terrorist.  Not flirting with the ex-terrorist.~

"Ok then, next question." she said, trying to keep her voice calm.  "Where did you learn Arabic?"

Another shrug.  "Somewhere with sand."

"Well that narrows it down, doesn't it?"

He shifted away from her at that remark, an expression she couldn't quite recognize hpassing across his face.

"I wouldn't know.  I don't remember."

~And we will now pause while the Windrider removes her foot from her mouth.~

Storm placed one hand on his shoulder.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Next question."

Alright, she could take a hint.

"Why did you leave the Brotherhood, then?"

"Well, the hours were long and the dental plan was shit…" he began, then trailed off.

"No, that's a lie.  I did it all for a girl with hair like snow, who smells like the new dawn after a night of rain."

He stroked one finger gently down her cheek; she didn't move away.

~Okay, I admit it.  Now I'm flirting with the ex-terrorist~

Moving a little closer, she said "You have the soul of a poet, Logan."

He laughed.  "Sssh, darlin'.  Don't go telling anyone."

The newcomer was covered up with a large cloak – when he took it off, Marie could see why.

"Everybody," announced Shadow, "this is Kurt."

"Hi Kurt!" chorused Violet and Sword.

Remy muttered "Hi, my name is Remy, and I'm a mutant." – and got a kick in the ankle from Violet for his trouble.

Marie said nothing, fascinated by Kurt's appearance.  Although he may have looked demonic to some, he reminded her of nothing so much as a cuddly toy.  In fact, she'd had a toy as a child that had looked a lot like him.  She'd called it Fuzzy Elf.

She smiled at him, and he smiled shyly back.

Then the twins rushed in, arguing about whose fault it was they were late; hand-in-hand, they eventually got themselves together enough to greet Kurt in that odd little synchronized way they had.

And once she'd introduced herself properly to Kurt – as Rogue – she sat in the overstuffed old chair in the corner, watching her friends fool around, and let Marie slip away into the darkness.  Marie belonged at home with the parents who had loved her; Rogue belonged here, with the people who had accepted her.

She was home.