Testing Begins

"Ok, where's everyone stand now?" Betsy asked the next day when the matchmakers all met for another meeting.

"Well, Hank's come up with some possible serums that could temporarily control her skin, but that's about it."

Betsy looked at Jean who had given that update and nodded. After making up Jean and Scott had eventually gone into the lab with the others to assist Hank, so the other girl was well aware of the man's progress on the scientific front.

"It may be just what we need," Betsy thought aloud.

Betsy sank into silence and began putting her theory together with that new information to begin forming a plan.

"What are you up to now, luv," Brian asked as he noticed the wicked smile touches his twin's face.

"Just the thing our Rogue needs, I'm thinking, luv."

Everyone turned their attention to the smiling female and started demanding to be let in on her plan, even Scott.

"Ok ok, settle down, blokes," she leant down into their huddle and began to whisper. "This is what we need to do…."

~*~*~

"This is only a temporary solution, you all understand that right?" Hank asked for the hundredth time as the group surrounded him in his lab.

"That's all we need, luv, Rogue'll take care of the rest herself," Betsy assured him with a smile.

The big blue man curled his hand around the vial Betsy was waiting for and crossed his long arms over his chest.

"I think someone should tell me what you all are up to," he said, making it clear it was the only way they'd get the serum.

Betsy, Brian, Jean, Kitty, Kurt, Scott, and Tabitha all looked at each other, saw no one had any arguments and shrugged their acceptance of the rule.

"Ok, luv, here's the deal…." Betsy began telling the man of her brilliant plan.

He listened carefully and nodded thoughtfully at each point the girl made before taking a moment to give the plan greater thought from his scientific perspective.

"Are you sure she'll believe this is a permanent cure?" he eventually asked.

"So long as everyone keeps the truth a secret," Betsy declared.

"What about when Rogue needs her powers?"

Betsy opened her mouth to make some automatic reply then closed it with a snap when she realized she hadn't even thought of that.

"Oh, bullocks!"

And with that everyone gathered in the lab went back to the drawing board to work out the kinks in that previously flawless plan.

~*~*~

"You all are missing dinner, you know," the Professor said as he wheeled in to join them hours later.

The occupants in the room all looked at the pile of pizza boxes near the trashcan then back at Charles.

"We got that covered," Scott stated the obvious.

"So I see now," the Professor said with a wry smile after following their gazes. "How goes your little mission?"

Most everyone groaned at the question and he could sense the frustration they were all feeling.

Hank, Kurt and Tabitha's hair was all mussed from each of them running their fingers through it at some point.

Crumbled sheets of notepaper littered the floor and tabletops, with a large accumulation around the trashcan that suggested some missed attempts at making a basket from across the room.

Betsy and Kitty were getting discouraged that they might not be able to help their friend.

Brian, Jean and Scott were all still trying to maintain their focus and stay at it.

No one spoke up to actually answer his question, so the Professor wheeled further into the room and began looking at the notes they'd made.

He came to the plan Betsy still felt was the best way to go and looked at the details carefully.

"That one," he picked up her notes to study them more thoroughly, "This has promise."

"I knew it!" Betsy jumped up smiling until she remembered why the plan wouldn't work, "How would she use her powers when she needed to, though?"

The Professor's brow furrowed in thought for a while.

"I believe I can help with that," he finally said.

"How?" they all asked.

"There's no way we can keep it secret that the serum's effects are only temporary. I think the best way to proceed would be to …" and he began his idea.

"What if it backfires?" Scott asked when the Professor finished.

"Yes, Rogue has a real problem with being mislead, Professor," Jean said.

"Come on now, it's no more deceptive than my original plan, luvs," Betsy told them before turning to Charles, "Smashing idea, guv."

"Now that they mention it, Betts, you gotta admit this will tick Rogue off when she finds out. Even if we're doing it for her own good," Tabitha spoke up.

"But how could she stay angry vith us? Ve are doing it vizh zhe best of intentions," Kurt put in.

"Can't we like, let her in on this ahead of time?"

"I'm afraid not, Kitty. If Rogue has even a hint that the serum isn't an absolute cure, she'll go back to being untouchable as soon as it wears off. The purpose of this plan is to make her believe that she is finally truly touchable. That way when I approach her with the truth, she'll be more likely to accept that she was able to turn her mutation off just by believing that the serum had cured her. With some training after that I'll be able to show her how easily she can go from using her mutation when she needs to and simply shutting it off to be a normal young woman," the Professor said.

"It sounds great in theory, luvs, but…" Brian trailed off as everyone turned to look at him.

"But what, doll?" Tabitha asked her boyfriend as she moved forward to ruffle his hair.

"This could very easily explode in our faces if anything happens that our theory doesn't allow for."

"Like what," Betsy asked her brother.

"Like what if the serum doesn't work or doesn't last long enough for Rogue to actually believe her mutation is gone?"

"Bloody 'ell, Bri, did you have to be such a bloody voice of reason here?!" Betsy stormed from the room, thinking her plan had again been shot to bits.

"Do you really think that could happen, Brian?" Tabby asked worriedly.

He reluctantly nodded his blonde head and focused on Hank.

"What kind of guarantees can you give us for that juice, guv?"

"Only one way to know for sure," Hank picks up the vial he'd had already made. "Who's going first?"

Automatically they all turned to Kurt whose mutation was the most obvious.

He gulped nervously then took off his image inducer until he was his natural fuzzy-blue-elf self.

"Bottoms up vright?" he joked as he took the vial and quickly swallowed it's contents.

"Mein Gott! Please tell me you've got anozher flavor?!" he gasped as the thick liquid slide down his throat.

Normally they would have laughed at the face he made, but they were all too stunned by the transformation instantly taking place right before their eyes.

"How can it - " Jean asked Hank as Kurt soon became an almost carbon copy of himself when he wore his image inducer.

"I don't know." The man replied, surprised by the turn of events himself.

"Vhat?!" Kurt dropped the vial to the floor and touched the face everyone was staring at.

"You're…like….normal," Kitty answered slowly.

"Vhat?!" he repeated before trying to teleport into his room to check his reflection in a mirror.

He groaned when he found his trusty ability to be absent and looked frantically around the room.

"Vhere's a mirror?!"

"Here, here. Calm down, blue boy," Tabby ordered as she offered him her compact.

Kurt snapped it open and stared at himself in the tiny mirror in silence for a moment.

"Mein Gott, it fixed everyzhing," he whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Speaking: Is that idea a bit much d'ya think? Personally I like it, I mean WOW instants all inclusive results with this nifty little serum, but they're only temporary so I think it balances out to be jussst this side of believable. If not, I'll subcategorize this baby as a fantasy and go from there. :-P More chapters are in the works, but I must confess I've got a nasty cold at the moment and am chugging Day & Nyquil so I may take a day or so off from writing.

*Runs from Nesa* Put that whip away child!

Also, if any of this story gets kind of jumbled please let me know because I have every intention of rereading it when I'm fully coherent again and revising if and as needed. :-) Thank ya much!