Gambit surveyed the now spotless kitchen, he'd cleaned up the mess that the two petit filles had made having their strange fight. He smiled at the thought of the way the girls eyes had flashed at each other, and then at Wolverine. Rouge was pretty, but the new cat woman, she was wild. She had lapped at that milk in a way that had made his pants tighten in a way that not even Rouge had done lately.  Rouges changed attitude had been interesting but, Void.. she was  more than interesting.

Plus the look on Logan face as Rouge announced his favorite pet name for his 'little wolf', that was definitely worth cleaning the kitchen for.  The kitchen was spotless and he'd been tidying it for a little over a half hour. Ororo had disappeared to give a detention and left him to see that no one touched anything before dinner. He climbed to sit on top of a counter and surveyed the kitchen. He'd actually never seen it this clean. Although he preferred the way it had looked with Void and Rouge sprawled across the floor drinking milk and eating strawberries, cheese and what he thought was pepperoni slices. He began to swing his legs absentmindedly and grinned. 'Wonder how much Logan will pay for mon silence… I am sure it will be quite a large amount. No man wants his secrets revealed, especially when he will be teaching here.' Gambit laughed aloud and brought out his pack of cards, shuffling them absentmindedly.

The door opened and Scott walked in talking with Jean. Gambit slid off the counter and put away his cards as they noticed him.

"What are you doing in here Gambit?" Jean asked, headed for the fridge.

"I'm supposed to guard the kitchen until suppertime." I had to clean it after Rouge-chere, and Void-chere had a fight.." He said, edging towards the door.

"Rogue and who had a fight?" Scott asked. "I don't know this 'Void' person."

"Void chere is very beautiful.." Gambit sighed, thinking of the way she had lapped up the milk. Jean stifled a giggle.

"A cat woman?" She asked, "This is not a batman movie Gambit. However I think that Gambit's Void is Logan's Jay. I suppose that she can shape shift partially as well as fully.

"I think that Void suits her better." Gambit said softly. "She has an edge.. and something in her eyes that says so much…something about her.. ah it is that je nu ce quais.."

"Well, thank you for guarding the kitchen Gambit… why don't you go and work on your homework before supper." Jean said softly. Gambit nodded and wandered out of the kitchen. "Well," Jean said softly, "Gambit is well and truly hooked." Scott lifted an eyebrow.

"Hooked?" He asked.

"He's fallen for Jay. I think they'd do well together, if Logan doesn't kill him first." Jean opened the refrigerator. "Well, what do you think?  Stew or roast beef and mashed potatoes?"

"I think that we hire someone to do this from now on. We have the money for it.. and that way I won't have to peel as many potatoes.  Stew." Scott said then sighed. "I hate having cooking duties."

~~~~

Rogue sat on her bed staring at Bobby. After a long moment she spoke.

            "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my entire life Bobby." She snorted. "Me? Give up Logan? I don't even have him. Why should I stop dreaming? Besides now that hes here I'm sure he'll treat me like a little sister.. and after long I won't want him anymore."

            "You're only hurting yourself like this Rogue. He has that catwoman ensconced in his rooms." Bobby said gently.

            "Her name is Void. And he carried her there. They are old friends." Rogue informed Bobby.

            "And who told you that?" Bobby asked.

            "She did." Rogue spat,  leaning her head against the wall.

            "And why should you believe her? You've never seen her before today. No ones seen her before today. She showed up after Logan. She was naked at  his feet, in his arms!" Bobby protested.

            "I trust her. We're alike. I know her. I've been inside her head. I have some of her memories. Her additude." Rogue said gently.

            "Exactly! Her additude. You only trust her because part of her is you now." Bobby said.

            "Part of me is her now too. But the part of me that is her is saying that your bugging me about this because your worried about me." Rogue paused. "Are you worried about me?"

            "Rogue, you're my friend, of course I'm worried about you. I don't want to see you get hurt. And I can only see Logan hurting you." Bobby said softly, leaning forwards.

            "Bobby.. thank you for being my friend, but I think I just want to be alone for a while" Rogue stood up and walked over to the door., Bobby following behind her.

            "Rogue.." He began and then stopped. "Whatever you do, remember who your friends are." Rogue nodded and he stepped out into the hallway. Bobby watched the door close firmly, sighed and then wandered off to the common room.

~~~~

Void lay on Logans bed entirely content to do nothing but watch him pace. He growled and blustered and finally demanded to know what had happened in the kitchen.

            "Logan, it was girl talk. You don't need to know what Rogue and I talked about." She said softly, enjoying watching him squirm.

            "You exchanged powers.. half drained each other. You were in half cat form.. That's not girl talk. What happened?" Logan snarled, moving to stand over her, claws extended. She sighed and extended her own claws.

            "I was trying to pych her out when she bumped into me. Her powers flared and so did mine. It was that simple. Now will you calm down and tell me what brought you to this crazy institute anyways?" She asked glaring up at him.

            "Pych her out? Why were you trying to pych her out? Marie is the sweetest thing ever and you were tryign to scare her?" He half snarled half shouted. Void sighed.

            "You used to react that way to people who threatened me." She said softly. "Why do you react like this about her?" Logan stopped as if he'd been slapped.

            "Its not the same." He said finally.  "Its not the same. You.. I.. We…we were…" Void shook her head.

            "Exactly.. we were. Now its you and her. You can't think the same, can't feel the same way for both of us. I'm the past. " Her voice shook and she swore to her self. Then tightened her resolve not to let the hurt show. "You have to look to the present." Void re-sheathed her claws and stood gracefully. She moved towards the door. "Just don't hurt her."

            Void left the room and shut the door firmly behind her. She sighed and began to move swiftly away from the room. Her throat tightened and she felt the tears begin to gather. She shook her head and changed into her wolf form.  As a wolf the emotions were farther off, processed differntly and it gave her more time to get away before she gave in to them.

            She raced down the stairs and into the main hallway. The door was firmly shut and as a wolf she hand no hands. She paced back and forth frantically for a few seconds before deciding to morph back into her real shape for as long as it took to get the door opened. She gathered her energies and then stopped as someone came into the hallway. It was Gambit the man from the kicthen. She ran towards him and whined before dancing back towards the door and whining again.

            Gambit stared at the white wolf that was staring at him in an extremely intelligent way, whining softly. He looked past the wolf to the door.

            "Ah.. you want me to open the door." He said then moved towards the wolf noting how it danced impatiently for him to open the door.  "Beautiful creature that you are.. you must crave freedom." He murmered to the wolf in his native French. He opened the door and watched the wolf streak across the lawn to the woods.

            Void reached the woods and stopped at the edge, the threat of her father screaming in her brain. He came so close before.. he could do so again. She thought frantically. The shadow of the trees would have to do. She sat and stared at the mansion wonderign which window hid Logan, and which one hid Rogue. Void threw back her head and howled releasing all her sorrow into the evening air. She shifted back to her normal form and let the tears come. She had loved Logan for so long and now he loved someone else.  She sobbed and kept her eyes fixed on the mansion, watching how the man who had once been more in tune with her emotions than he was with his own, didn't appear as he had so many times before. She shook her head, once he had always been there to soothe away her tears.. now that she had found him again.. she had lost him in yet another way.