I don't own the X-Men.  I wish I did, or at the very least I wish I owned the ones I like, but I don't.  They, and any major characters in this story, belong to Marvel, though they don't deserve them. I'm making no money off of this, though if Marvel Comics wants to pay me, I won't refuse!

Thanks go out to Luba for the beta read and encouragement, and to everyone who's been so great about providing feedback!  I'm a self-admitted review junkie, so until I find a support group, the more you review the more I write.  Thanks to all of you who do (except Hemmlocke, with whom I WILL get even for the last one, BTW!)

Just a Couple of Kids, After All…

Chapter 20

"Damn it, Warren, hold still!" Betsy was saying, as she pressed the Kleenex to her sometime lover's nose.  Rogue stifled a laugh; she was almost positive that Betsy was pressing harder than necessary.  She couldn't blame her; had it been Remy making a scene, she'd have provided the bloody nose herself.  As it was, she felt Warren was lucky that it had been Bobby that punched him, and not Betsy.  She wouldn't want to get into a fight with the former-ninja without her invulnerability.

"Dmn Drk – gt hm fr dis…" Warren was mumbling, and Rogue surveyed the damage.  Warren's pale blue polo shirt was liberally covered with blood, as was what she could see of his face around the soaked Kleenex.  She watched him grab the bloody tissue out of Betsy's hand, holding it out as if presenting Exhibit A to the court.

"Now do you all see what I mean?  Look at this!  I can't believe Drake –"

"Not do it sooner," Remy growled, glaring at Warren, his dark gray eyes ice cold.  "Not dat le Chat not be able to defend herself, but it be her man's prerogative, no?"

"You can't be saying you think I deserved this?" Warren asked, looking around the room for signs of support.  Rogue would have been amazed if he'd found any, but apparently he didn't, as the expression on his face changed from indignation to entreaty as he turned toward Jean.  "Jean, you can't ignore this…" he said, his voice trailing off.

"No, of course not Warren," Jean said coolly.  "On the other hand, I can't ignore the fact that you asked for it, either."

"Asked for more than that, I'd say," Logan chimed in, his hands flexing as if he were trying to force the claws out.  "You talk that way again about my Kit, and you won't have to worry about whether or not your nose is broken – you won't be breathing either way."

"I'm thinkin' we've heard enough of you bashing Bobby, too," Rogue added, more than a little annoyed that no one was sticking up for her friend. 

"I agree," Kurt inserted, and Rogue looked at him gratefully.

"Yeah," Jubilee demanded, popping her gum.  "Like, lay off the Bobster already!  What'd he ever do to you?"

"Perhaps an ill timed question," Hank whispered to Rogue as Warren thrust the Kleenex towards Jubilee in response, and she bit her lip to keep from giggling.

"Still, he has raised some valid points," Piotr said.  "Bobby's behavior has been incredibly juvenile, dragging Katya off into dangerous situations without a thought to her safety."

"On the contrary," Kurt corrected casually.  His eyes were twinkling, though from the set of his jaw Rogue suspected he was more than a little concerned about Piotr's attitude.  "The initial suggestion to investigate was Katzchen's, not Bobby's.  So I suppose it could be said that she dragged him off into dangerous situations without a thought to his safety, though I'm certain she did consider the risks before they undertook the mission."

"And how can you be so sure of that?" Betsy asked.

"Quite simply, because I made very sure she DID consider all the risks before they left," Kurt shrugged.  "Katzchen tends to be a bit impulsive these days, probably because she's convinced she needs to prove her worth to everyone.  Constantly," he added, gazing around the room.  "I believe it has slipped most of your minds that she IS four years older than she was when she was last with the X-Men.  Contrary to popular opinion, she DID grow up while she was with Excalibur."

"You raise an excellent point, Kurt," Ororo said calmly.  "Though I'm afraid I am not as confident as to her maturity as you are.  As you mentioned, she is impulsive, and her temper is obviously still not completely under control."

"And yours woulda been?" Rogue asked abruptly, having heard quite enough.  "Let's see – she's had all of five hours sleep in the last two days, got a near concussion, got captured, escaped, and got home to face a whole room fulla her teammates.  Mosta you were pouncin' on her before she even opened her mouth.  I don't recall EVER having returned from a mission to that, but I'm sure I wouldn'ta been in the best of moods if I did.  Would you?" she asked, glancing around the roomful of embarrassed faces.   "Throw in Mr. Perfect here dissin' her and Bobby ever other minute, well, I give Kit credit for takin' as long to blow as she did.  But then, I'd've probably punched ya myself, if it'd been me," she added, turning to Warren.  "I guess you can call me immature, too; after all, I'm only a couple years older than Kitty, and younger than Bobby."

"Your maturity is not being questioned, Rogue," Storm said imperiously.

"Then why's Kit's?" Rogue countered.  "I admit I don't know her all that well, haven't for a long time, but she never seemed immature to me, acts a lot older than most girls her age.  Hell, she did even at fourteen.  Why's Bobby's maturity being questioned, for that matter?"  She heard several protests, but waved them off.  "Ok, yeah, he's not gonna be voted most likely to be the next Cyclops anytime soon.  But has he ever not come through when it counted?  Shit, the guy runs his own business when he ain't around here; anyone else here doing that, who didn't inherit it from his Daddy?"

Warren opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again.  Remy raised his eyebrows at her, but she shook her head, a wry grin on her face.  Being a professional thief did not count as running a business, in her opinion.  No one else said a word for quite some time, until finally Hank spoke up.

"Rogue, all of your questions are quite valid.  You are correct in that we all, or nearly all," he corrected, nodding at Kurt, who acknowledged his correction with a nod, "tend to behave as if Bobby and Kitty are still children, undoubtedly because they essentially were when their respective teams of X-Men were established.  It is a common phenomenon, I believe, most often encountered when parents are unable to recognize that their children have grown up until long after it has occurred.  But we commit an injustice by doing so."

"Damn straight," Jubilee said, glaring at Wolverine.  "You listening to this, Wolvie?"

"I am – it just doesn't apply to you yet," he countered, then winked at her.

Hank cleared his throat, "Achem.  Well, while that may or may not be the case, it is not directly relevant to the current topic of conversation.  Warren?"

"Yeah, Hank," Warren said from the chair where he was gently probing his swollen, blood stained nose as if trying to determine whether or not it was broken.

"I believe an apology is in order."

"Ok, if Bobby comes and apologizes, I'll accept," Warren said resolutely.  "I suppose I may have gone a bit too far."

"You misunderstand me, my friend.  I believe it would be an unexpected but appropriate gesture on your part to go and apologize to them."

"Now wait just a minute, Hank!  I'M the one who got punched out…"

"Nah, he's right, Warren – you were way out of line.  At the very least y'all should apologize to Kitty for calling her names, but I'm thinkin' telling Bobby you're sorry would go a long way too," Rogue said.

"It would certainly cool the tension within the team," Jean inserted, and Rogue smiled at her gratefully.  She liked Jean – yeah, she wasn't the leader Cyke had been, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.  She just needed to find her own style, and it seemed she was doing so.  Of course, her pregnancy would limit her ability to lead in the field, but hey, Ororo or Kurt could always do that.  It wasn't like the Professor hadn't led the team for years without ever leaving the mansion.  Or at least, she admitted, without leaving the mansion often.  And those occasions when he had hadn't gone all that well; he'd been a lot less experienced at "leading" the team than his field leaders had.

"In any case, I think we've discussed this enough for tonight," Jean said, yawning broadly and taking Logan's arm.  "Come on, Ororo – we've got planning to do.  The rest of you – get some sleep.  It sounds as if you're going to need it."   Ororo joined Logan and Jean, and Rogue watched them exit the room.

Pregnant and getting married.  Rogue could hardly believe it, though she was thrilled that Logan and Jean had gotten together.  Now, if she could just relax around Remy, maybe their relationship would get somewhere, too.

The truth was, she knew, everything had just happened too fast.  After years of trying to control or to just live with her mutation, it was suddenly gone.  Everyone had expected her to be elated.  Instead, she was scared.

Years of invulnerability had made her reckless when it came to physical danger; she'd seriously burned herself several times taking pans out of the oven without hotpads, having pretty much forgotten they'd existed.  But more importantly, she couldn't get used to the idea that she could just touch anyone.  Or, more truthfully, she couldn't get used to the idea that they could touch her.

One part of her loved it – it was great to be able to shed the gloves, wear whatever she liked in public, give a friend a casual hug without worrying about the consequences.  But she still cringed inwardly whenever someone touched her, whether intentionally or no.  Part of it was just the habit of years; after having become accustomed to avoiding even the most transient touch, it was a reflex to shun them completely.  But she knew it the rest stemmed from the part of her past the Professor had blocked in her memory when she'd first joined the X-Men.  Unfortunately, she couldn't remember what, and he wasn't here to ask.  He'd told her then that she'd remember when she was ready to deal with the memories; that hadn't happened yet.  Instead, her mutant power had just been turned off, leaving her to deal with the results.  It had come too easily, and a nagging voice in her mind that she couldn't recognize kept telling her things were going to go tragically wrong. 

At least Remy understood, even if no one else did.  He hadn't pushed her for further intimacy, reminding her that he'd loved her all this time without it, and could wait until she was ready.  She smiled at the thought of the few brief kisses they'd shared thus far, but wasn't sure she was ready to go further than that.  Not yet.

But now – what if the Neo were successful?  What if she never got another opportunity?  The idea had been haunting her all evening, and she still wasn't sure how she felt about it.  On one hand, she knew her powers WERE controllable; the Professor had done it, Carol Danvers had done it.  But thus far, she hadn't.  What if she never did?

"You comin', Chere?" Gambit asked, breaking her out of her deliberations.

"Right behind ya, Cajun," she replied, and followed him out of the room.

Bobby and Kitty got off the elevator and silently walked down the hallway.  By unspoken agreement, they'd gone up to the level that housed the computer equipment, and soon found themselves outside the door.  Bobby opened it and gestured for Kitty to precede him in.

Bobby was still thinking about the altercation withWarren when Kitty broke the silence.

"Sounds like we'll be spending a lot of time in here for the next few days," she said with resignation as she picked up a stack of papers and dumped them on the table next to her.  She plopped down in a battered computer chair that might once have been brown and looked up at Bobby.

"Yeah, well, I guess it could be worse," he answered doubtfully, and then smiled as a thought occurred to him.  "At least I get to spend it I good company."

"Hmm, there is that," she answered, smiling.  Bobby walked over to her and put his left hand on the back of her chair.  Using his right to tip her chin up, he leaned in and kissed her.

"Thank you," he said as they broke apart, their faces still only inches apart.

"For what?" she asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

"For listening," he answered quietly.  "For believing in me when I can't.  And for making Warren look like a total ass in public."  The last just snuck out, but he couldn't maintain a straight face anymore; the edges of his mouth began twitching even as Kitty examined his face, trying to decide if he was serious or not.  Finally, he gave up and started laughing, gaining volume after Kitty hugged him and joined in.

"I did mean the first two," he said in a few moments, once they'd stopped laughing.  They were still only inches apart, and he could see the compassion in her eyes.

"I know," she replied, and he felt her hand brush down his face.  "But it's really no big deal."

"It is to me," he answered, taking her hand in his own.  "Kitty, I –" he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Damn," he said, pulling away.  "Who is it?"

"Who d'ya think, Popcicle?" Jubilee answered as she opened the door.  "Am I interrupting anything – I hope?"  Bobby let out a sigh.  This was starting to become a trend.

"No – come on in, Jubes," Kitty said, gesturing to a seat.

"Thanks Kat!" she said, walking over to the chair and collapsing in it.  "Whew – I'm exhausted!  You guys really know how to liven up a meeting, you know it?"

"You didn't do too bad yourself, Sparky," Bobby said, giving her a high five.  "Am I invited to the shower, by the way?"

"Only if you're planning to wear a dress," Jubilee smirked.  "I'm SO sure – showers are for women," she continued, rolling her eyes at Kitty .  She grinned mischievously, then asked, "Unless you want him there, Kat – how about it?  Should we have him do the striptease?  Is he qualified?  Enquiring minds want to know!"

"Oh, I'd say he's qualified," Kitty answered, grinning back, and Bobby was relieved that she was giving him the benefit of the doubt.  "But you won't be seeing it anyway; Jean'll send you out of the room.  Underage, you know?"

Jubilee rolled her eyes again.  "Since when did you become a member of the establishment, Kat?  I was counting on you to back me on this one."

"It's possible," Kitty said, tapping her fingers on the table and pretending to consider it.  "But not if Bobby's performing…"

"O-K!  So we get Remy instead!  Better deal all around," Jubilee said, bouncing up and down in her chair.

"Hey, my feelings are hurt!" Bobby interjected, but Jubilee had already continued.

"I'll have to clear it with Rogue, but I doubt she'll mind; she enjoys a good show as much as the next person, she's told me about some.  Seriously, though – I came up to ask you how you felt about the whole thing, Kat.  I mean, about Wolvie and Jean."  Bobby saw her face grow solemn.

Kitty must have noticed Jubilee's change in attitude too, because she answered gently, "Logan's a big boy, Jubes – I don't think there's much we can do about it."

"But he's like, dying!  It doesn't seem like the best time to be getting married and having a kid, you know?  And why Jean?  I mean, she's always been with Scott…"

"Well, Jubes, I don't know if you know where babies come from, but the fact their having one together probably tells you something about their current relationship," Bobby said, trying to lighten the mood. 

"Cute, Bobster.  I'm like, not an X-baby, remember?  But still…" Jubilee let the thought hang, her face showing a lot of doubt.

"I know how you feel, Jubes.  Look at it this way, you and Jean at least get along," Kitty said, smiling.  "How'd you like to be me at the moment?  But seriously, if this is what they want, isn't it more important that Logan be happy?  Especially if he is dying?"

"What do you mean, if?  He told me he was," Jubilee responded, glaring at Kitty with accusation in her eyes.  "Do you know something I don't?"

Kitty shook her head and smiled.  "Nope.  I just don't underestimate Logan."

"Hmm, good point.  Thanks, Kat.  And Bobby," she added as an afterthought as she stood up.  "I suppose you helped too.  You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming – hey, not until I leave the room, Bobster!" she said, as Bobby pulled a laughing Kitty out of her chair, dipped her, and began kissing her.  "I like, sooo did not need to see that!" she was muttering as she walked out the door, shaking her head.

Kitty was laughing when Bobby helped her back to her feet.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," he said sheepishly, and was relieved when he noticed that while Kitty looked a little stunned, she didn't look the least bit upset.  He was surprised by her next words, though, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"So?  Don't resist," she said, leaning in and kissing him.  And he didn't.