Cool. I got a couple of reviews.. Satisfaction is setting in.. For this next chapter, and the chapters after this one, my sincere hope is that no one minds fairly extensive Xavier bashing.

"Come, take me away,
Remove the fear from my eyes,
Feel the flame of my heart,
Burning away all conversation tonight,"

Dis one be from 'Rise', by Disturbed. 'Tis fun to type an' speak dis way mes amis, 'cause barely 'nyone can unn'erstan' y'.

*-*

Chapter Five: Hiatus.

It was late in the evening when the X-men arrived back at the mansion. They trooped in wearily, exhausted by the days events. Unsurprisingly, Xavier was waiting in the main room, with Logan and Ororo on either side of him. Hank was sipping a drink at the side of the room.

"Hello, children." Xavier said, although unsmilingly. Ororo and Logan were expressionless, and Hank seemed to be inspecting the contents of his drink and muttering to himself. "How was the mall?"

"Fine," Scott said, his tone a touch defensive. He was probably expecting an assault for not informing the elders at any moment.

"Logan, Ororo and Hank are not telepathic. Could you recount the day's events for them?"

Scott gave a quick rundown on what had happened at the mall, and the events taking place at the dike. The teachers remained expressionless throughout the recital. When he finished, there was an uncomfortable silence. All the teens were looking sullen, Remy noted, like they were already being chided for what they had done, even though Xavier had not announced a punishment. He hadn't been with the X-men long enough to know whether this was what Xavier usually did or not. He also did not know if he was supposed to keep quiet or not, but he had a question.

"How come we heard de noise when you people didn'?

"Ororo and Logan were out on some business. Hank was down in the lab all the time, and I was taking a short nap. The noise had stopped by the time Logan and Ororo returned and I woke up." Xavier replied, slightly smiling like he always did when he wanted you to think he knew something you didn't.

"But something like that would have been on all the news channels." Scott mused aloud, and then looked embarrassed at having spoken before Xavier asked him to.

Logan growled. "Woulda seen the news if ya hadn't been watchin' the flamin' Jerry Springer Show, Chuck."

Xavier gave a forced smile as the teens gasped in shock. "It's purely to analyze the psychology of the people on the show, children," he said.

"The flamin' hell it is." Logan muttered. Xavier gave another forced smile. Suddenly Logan shook his head, and seemed to be swatting away a fly that was inches from his nose (Xavier can alter a persons perceptions of reality). He continued doing this while Xavier resumed talking.

"Well, you all have not done badly, and although you should have called us for help, you seem to have gotten out of this without suffering any unforeseen consequences-"

He was cut off by Jean, who put a hand to her head. "Professor, I don't feel too good." Suddenly, a familiar red beam burst out of her eyes, nearly vaporizing Logan and Ororo, who jumped out of the way just in time, and missing Xavier's bald head by so little as to have shaved him if he had hair. Jean squeezed her eyes shut.

Xavier's smile swayed a little, but was quickly back in place. "Or I could be wrong."

Hank quirked an eyebrow. "Interesting." He put his glass down. "The monster removed your powers, right? Well it seems that he hasn't given them back properly."

Just then, Rogue gasped as the beam shot out of her eyes, again scattering Logan and Ororo, who had just gotten up. Xavier ducked, this time to avoid having major surgery.

Hank wasn't smiling. "All of you, close your eyes. And don't make any sudden moves."

"Why?" Asked Remy, who was feeling like an idiot with his eyes shut.

Just then someone - he thought Kurt - sneezed, and a 'fwick!' sound came, and then a thud. He felt it safe enough to open one eye, and he did so, to see Xavier ducking with a spike quivering not half an inch above his head.

"Uh, I hope I didn't do what I think I did." Kurt said.

"You did, Elf." Logan snarled from the ground where he had jumped for the third time.

"Okay, all you people, in the rec room, now." Hank said, "And don't touch anything!" he added frantically as Scott's hand brushed a vase. It glowed bright scarlet, and exploded, although without too much force, as the contact had been brief. That got the group moving fast.

*-*

The group assembled in the recreation room dressed more oddly than they were used to; all of them were wearing copies of Scott's glasses, and all of them were covered head to toe so that they didn't charge anything by mistake, or touch anyone and absorb their powers.

They had also been further cautioned by Hank: "You know your powers are switching randomly. So no sudden moves, no anger. That will make you release spikes. No thinking about moving stuff with your minds, and no holding your breath. That would make you misuse Jean or Kitty's power. No thinking about the bathroom, or Alaska-"

At this point Evan vanished with a loud 'bamf!' Hank rubbed his forehead wearily. "I hope he was thinking about the bathroom, and not Alaska. Anyway, until we can figure out a way to return you people to normal, you have to stay in the room. Xavier may own a mansion, but I don't think he could afford the upkeep if we let you people loose. Scott, keep everyone busy, so they don't think about other places-"

Scott vanished.

Without missing a beat, Hank turned to Jean and continued, "So stay occupied. And remember, no coming out until we tell you that you can."

*-*

So they clustered in the rec room, wondering what to do.

"We could play cards," Remy suggested.

"If you sit and watch," Evan said as Kurt yelped "No way am I playing with you again!"

"Why is dat?" Remy asked, appearing astonished.

"'Cause you cheat, man."

"You malign poor Remy. You hurt his feelings; after all he's done for you." Remy said, feigning anger. "You accuse him of being a cheat, while he's at his lowest, wearing sunglasses in a dark room like some huge dork."

"Careful, Lebeau," Scott spoke up.

"So," interjected Jean, always the arbiter. "What could we do?"

"Let's listen to music," Kurt suggested.

"And what song will we play? Everyone has different tastes." Jean replied.

"Someone must have ze same taste in music," Kurt said, "Zere are-" He did a quick count, "Seven of us. I refuse to believe no two people have the same taste in music."

"It's a bet!" Remy cried, slapping his hand. Kurt looked taken aback.

"So, Porcupine, what do y' listen t'?" Remy asked, looking at Spyke.

"R&B or Soul, man. Rap also, if it has enough tune. Ya gotta love Nelly and Usher."

"An' you, Kitty?"

"Pop, mostly." Several people made gagging noises. "Maybe Britney Spears or Shakira. A bit of Blink 182 also, at times."

"Dats two, Elf. They aren't de same. What about you? Be honest now."

Kurt smiled, a bit uneasily. "German metal. Rammstein for example."

Remy smiled. "Yeah, I heard their song in the Vin Diesel movie. It was pretty good."

Kurt grinned. "If you liked that, you'll definitely like Halleluja, from the Resident Evil soundtrack."

"I'll remember dat, Elf."

"So, Remy, what do you listen to?" Jean asked.

"New age Metal. Like Linkin Park or Disturbed, or Rob Zombie." He smiled. "Dat's four down, Elf. You are gonna pay."

"But I never made a bet!" Kurt yelped. Remy smiled, and he sighed. "How much for, Gumbo?"

"You take my extra danger room sessions."

"I guess I can bet for that, if you take any I get this month."

"Hey! That isn't allowed!" Scott exclaimed.

"Dat, or ten bucks, straight up."

"I think I have Scott's powers," Kurt said, glaring right at Scott. "So if I were to take off my glasses right now."

"Alright, jeez, take the sessions if you want." Scott said, shaking his head in disgust.

"Danke." Kurt said. "And what do you listen to?"

"Rock, but mostly old metal. Metallica, Guns n Roses, Iron Maiden etcetera." Scott replied. Remy nodded in approval.

"I listened t' dem, but de solo's an' de songs got too long for my taste."

"But you can't have a song without a solo. A solo is where the guitarist challenges himself. Listen to November Rain by Guns n Roses, or Fade to Black by Metallica and you'll see what I mean." Scott said, surprisingly passionate about the whole thing.

"Halleluja, November Rain, Fade To Black. Got it." He turned to Jean. "An' you, Princess?"

She smiled. "Classical music. It purifies the mind and soul. If I don't listen to any of Mozart's symphonies or Beethoven once in a while, I feel I've lost a part of me."

"Imagine what will happen when she and Scott get married," Evan whispered to Kurt, who grinned.

Suddenly Remy got a mental image of Scott listening to a hardcore metal song, while Jean hit him over the head and tried to put on Bach. He grinned, both at the image, and at realizing he had Jean's power. Now to do something she would be too nice to do.

While he was thinking, Kurt was asking Rogue who she listened to. She looked at him, and then at Remy, indecisive.

"Marilyn Manson." She admitted. "Who else?"

Kurt groaned. He had netted himself three weeks of extra danger room sessions. He turned to Remy, expecting him to be smiling, but Remy was staring off into space absentmindedly.

That was because Remy had picked up on Rogue's thoughts. She was thinking about whether to lie about who she listened to, to make Remy lose the bet, or tell the truth. She had decided to tell the truth, but the brief hesitancy surprised him. There was also nothing he could do about it, with her refusing to talk to him. So he did the next best thing.

*Scott!* He tried to send out a telepathic thought. Everyone in the room grabbed their heads in pain.

"Did you just hear someone shout Scott right now?" Kurt asked Evan. He nodded. Everyone else also said they had heard it, including Remy, who had the sense to align himself with the group.

Next, he tried focusing on Scott only.

*Scott.* It was more of a telepathic whisper this time.

*Who's this?* Scott thought back, shifting on the sofa.

*Remy.*

*Could you get out of my head, Cajun?*

*I need you t' do a favor for me, y' bein' de team leader an' all dat.*

*What is it?*

*Dat Rogue t'ing I tol' y' 'bout.*

*No thank you. My dad always told me to never mess with the super strong girls.*

*I might be able to pry around your head. Let's see, Remy be gettin' a thought about what y' did last Sunday, in de shower. Y'-*

*My God! I'll do it if you get out of my head! And shut up about the shower thing; I'm only human.*

*'k. Ask her why she's mad at me, an' how I can make it up to her.*

The telepathic link faded. Scott was left wondering how he could get Rogue to talk to him. About anything for that matter let alone her feelings about Remy at the moment. She probably wouldn't tell him the color of her favorite lipstick on a normal day, although any fool could see that it was black.

He decided to wait until he got Jean's telepathic power, to ask Rogue. And to slap Remy around for involving him in this mess.

The night rolled on.

*-*

At about one o'clock they played cards, having exhausted all other possibilities, such as board games and the like. Remy was forbidden from playing after he won the first three games of Go Fish ("But it's Go Fish, how c'n 'nyone possib'ly cheat at Go Fish!?!") and he sulked, watching television through ruby quartz glasses, which soon gave him a headache.

Eventually, everyone got tired of playing cards, and Remy was admitted back into the fold.

"Now what?" Jean asked, as they all sat there, wondering what to do, for the umpteenth time.

"We could always play Twister." Kurt suggested, his tone indicating how stupid he thought the suggestion was.

"And have, like, twenty spikes in my stomach? I don't think so."

"So we could play when we're back to normal fraulein?" Kurt asked, smiling at Kitty.

"Like, dream on Elf."

"No harm in asking, is zere?"

Meanwhile Scott realized he had finally gotten Jean's power, when he felt Kitty mentally blushing at Kurt's suggestion. Then he got a mental projection of Kurt and Kitty playing Twister. He didn't know who thought it, but he suspected it was Kurt, because they didn't have any clothes on in the projection. He let out a strangled yell.

"Yeeeaarghh!"

Everyone looked at him, but he glared at Kurt, who looked confused. Kitty however, blushed for some odd reason.

When everything calmed down, he tried to reach Rogue's mind.

*Rogue?* He had a bit more practice than Remy, after a fashion, because of all the times he had talked to Jean, so he got into Rogue's head on the first try.

*Jean?* Rogue's face registered astonishment, and she turned to Jean, who was oblivious, chatting with Kurt.

*It's Scott, actually.*

*What do ya'll want?*

*Why are you angry at Remy? It can't be over a stupid can of beer, can it?*

Just as he had feared, back came the thought *Why should ah tell you? It's none of your business.*

He was about to break the link and tell Remy to do his worst because he had failed when back came another thought from Rogue.

*It was the beer at first.* She was hesitant, unsure whether to tell him all. *But he didn't even apologize for not sharing it with me, after all his grand claims of me being his only love.* She stopped for a bit. *And then he started acting like an idiot, making remarks about grabbin' mah ass and saying other stupid things.*

Scott glanced at her face. She seemed to be weeping. That couldn't be right, the Rogue, crying?

She continued. *It's tearin' me apart, to go so long without talking to him, but every time ah look at him, trying to talk, he grins and makes some stupid remark which pisses me off even more.*

*Maybe he's trying to charm his way back into your good graces?* Scott asked.

She snorted, mentally *He couldn't charm a cross-eyed mule with those lines. All I want him to do is apologize. For the beer, and for acting like an idiot.*

Scott nodded and closed the link. He then opened up one with Remy.

*She wants you to apologize, Lebeau.*

*Merde! What for?*

*To quote her, you are acting like an idiot.*

*Remy actin' de way he always acts.*

*Yes, like an idiot. That's what she said. And she asked for an apology for the beer also.*

*One or two lousy cans! Dat was what pissed her off!*

*It's the thought that counts, Cajun. And you know how women can be.*

*Yeah, well. Okay, Remy gon' t' apologize.*

*Good luck Cajun.*

He shut off the link, and saw Remy get up from in front of the television and walk toward the door.

"Where are you going, Remy" Jean called.

"Bat'room."

"You do know you aren't allowed to leave the room, right?"

"Oh yeah, t'anks for remindin' me, Princess. I need someone t' keep a lookout for de teachers while I'm in de bathroom. Rogue? Would y' do de honors?"

Rogue looked up from a magazine, astonished. She glanced at Scott, who kept his face expressionless. Then she looked at Remy, who mercifully wasn't smiling. "Ah guess so." She said, putting the magazine and getting up. Remy held the door open for her and closed it behind them.

"Scott! They're disobeying the rules, stop them!"

"It's only till the bathroom, Jean, what harm can they do?" he picked up the magazine Rogue had left. "They'll be back soon enough."

*Don't do anything stupid, Lebeau.* He thought, flipping the pages.

*-*

Remy led the way to his room. Rogue walked silently behind him, keeping a lookout for any teachers.

"Remy, we've passed three bathrooms already. Why are we going to the one in your room?" She whispered, annoyed at the possibility of being caught because Remy couldn't use someone else's toilet paper.

"Shh chere." He whispered back, opening his door. "An' wait outside." He closed the door, leaving her wondering how soon she would be caught, and making up a list of excuses.

A couple of minutes later, Remy opened the door.

"C'mon in, chere."

She gasped as she stepped into his room. The bed was covered in roses, and the fragrance filled the air. There was a giant bouquet of flowers on the bedside table, with a note saying 'Please forgive me.'

"How- how did you-?"

"I bamfed to the florists, chérie." He took her by the hand, slipping off her glove. "An' I want to apologize for anyt'ing I may have done t' upset y'."

She pulled her hand away. "Remy, you know we caint touch-" She stopped as he stroked her cheek.

"Yes we can, mes âme. An' dat is de only t'ing I want t' do right now." He led her to the bed.

*-*

Scott sat up with a jerk, throwing aside the magazine.

"Lebeau!" He roared.

*-*

At near four in the morning, Hank opened the rec room door, to find all seven teens sleeping. He smiled, slightly. The adults stayed up nearly all night to solve their problems, and they went to sleep, confident they would be alright in a few days. They'd find out what it was like, being adults, in a few years. But, for the moment, he could teach them something about responsibility. He clapped loudly, his large hands generating large amounts of noise.

"People, get up! We may have found a way to resolve your little power switching misfortunes. War room, now!"

And when the Beast shouted, only the dead remained lying down.

*-*

It was a beleaguered team that assembled in the war room. Remy was leaning on Rogue for support, Kurt was snoring head down on the table, and Evan and Kitty were slapping themselves to keep awake. Even Scott was rubbing his eyes. Jean was the only one wide awake, because she had gone to sleep first, and because she didn't want Dr McCoy thinking she couldn't stay awake.

"Couldn' dis wait till de mornin'?" Remy muttered. He had had less sleep than all the others - apart from Rogue, of course.

"Of course not, my heavy eyed friend. I don't think the rest of your ames are willing to go so long without possessing their powers for such sporadic periods of time. Is that not right, people?" He beamed around the table, but got no reply. Kitty and Evan had given up slapping and were sleeping. Kurt had fallen on to the floor, and was curled up there like a baby. Rogue was now leaning on Remy's shoulder and sleeping. Scott was picking up a glass of water and pouring it on his head. Jean was still as perky as ever, but her smile had started seeming a little frozen in place. "Well, maybe not."

Remy was awake only because Rogue was leaning on him. "Remy be t'inkin', Dere are two t'ings y' could do right now. Y' could tell Remy, Cyke an' Jean, an' expec' us t' remember it in dis condition, an' tell it t' de others, or y' could let us all sleep, an' 'ave de honour of tellin' it t' us personally, in de mornin'."

Hank looked around again. Scott was leaning on the wall; with his glasses, it was hard to tell whether his eyes were open or not. Jean was head-down on the table, snoring, but what startled him was that over the tops of her glasses, he could see her eyes open. That was pretty scary. That got him to thinking: maybe she had trained herself to sleep with her eyes open, and maybe she did that in class also. Interesting.

Remy waved his hand in Hank's face, making him jerk back. "What's de verdict?"

"You can go to sleep. I'll talk in the morning."

"Nice t' know." He picked up Rogue and phased through the wall.

Hank looked around the room. He picked up Scott and put him on the nearest sofa. He put Kurt and the rest on other pieces of furniture, making sure that they were comfortable. He sighed as he left the room, shutting off the light. Being a teacher was not any easy task, and being a teacher to an assorted bunch of mutants made the job ten times harder.

*-*

The next morning started a little late, as the teachers had stayed up till nearly half past three discussing the ways to stop the random power switching; Evan, Kitty and Kurt had slept at about three, after playing cards the whole time (a movie was put on in the middle, but the glasses gave everyone headaches). Scott had slept about half an hour after Jean, who had slept at one thirty. Remy and Rogue had not gotten much sleep at all, but had woken up pretty early. That was why when Remy stepped outside after leaving Rogue in the kitchen making breakfast, he saw Scott awake, and cleaning his car. Jean was nowhere in sight. He walked up to Scott.

"Mornin' Scooter. Where's de Princess?"

Scott looked up at Remy. "Good morning, Rem. She's inside, freshening up." He smiled, remembering something. "It was so cool, looking at her beautiful face without these stifling glasses. Finally she wasn't tinted red. I'll cherish the memories of our morning walk together forever." He bent down to his task with renewed vigour, Jean's face framed in his mind giving him add impetus.

"Remy feel happy for y', Scooter." He leaned against a tree, watching Scott happily polish his car. "Remy's dream came true last night too." Scott stopped polishing the car and looked up at Remy again, his face serious.

"I should report you for that transgression, Remy."

"Y' knew?"

"I had a telepathic conversation with you five minutes before that. Yes I knew."

"Y' read our t'oughts?"

"Of course not! What kind of pervert do you think I am? I asked Jean how she stopped herself from listening to others thoughts, and she told me."

"Remy guesses he c'n live wit' dat. It's not like he has 'ny ot'er choice." He paused for a bit. "So, are you gon' t' report us?"

Scott's face softened. "I couldn't make myself. I know that you and Rogue can't be intimate at all when this is over, so I felt the most inhumane thing I could do in a lifetime was to report you for it." He started hosing the car off. "And I think I also made some kind of psychic shield around your room, so that Xavier couldn't pick up thoughts from you. Of course, not even Jean can block out Xavier, but I tried to keep it so he would only get your thoughts if he tried to, and not randomly. Boast all you want about finally getting some, but don't tell anyone I tried to help you. I don't want anyone thinking their leader's gone soft."

Remy smiled. "I wouldn' brag 'bout dat. Not 'bout Rogue. An' my lips are sealed 'bout y'r transgr'ssion. An' now, if y' are finally done wit' de car, we c'n go an' have breakfast."

*-*

The meeting in the war room was much more encouraging for Hank than last nights' had been. For a start, all his students were awake. For another thing, he couldn't see Jean's eyes behind those glasses, and thank God for that. He was a man of science, and he knew about the occurrence of such phenomena, but it had seriously thrown him off balance. Then again, he wasn't used to seeing the teens like this, Evan hanging from the ceiling, Scott taking stuff from the refrigerator without opening it, and Kitty floating slightly.

"Okay now, students, we may have found the cure for the power switching." Jean smiled at him, looking over the top of her glasses. She had familiar red-on-black eyes. "Ah, could you wait just a second?" Hank quickly stepped outside the room.

He muttered to himself, uncaring of who saw him "A man of science, McCoy. Pull yourself together. She is a very lovely little girl. She should not be bothering you. She has nice eyes. Yes. They are not in the slightest way bloodcurdling. Yes. In you go now." He stepped back in.

"Ah, so where was I?" Before anyone could say anything, the same cry filled the air, the monster, reawakened.

Hank sighed. "Is this the monster?" There were seven affirmative nods. "Then I'll tell you after we capture it. Scott, the teachers are coming, so you have to hand over your field leader authority to Xavier."

Scott nodded. "I understand. But I want second command." Hank nodded acquiescence. "Then let's go."