Author's note: Another chapter for your viewing pleasure! Well, aren't you special…
~ 1LiLRoGuE / KaTe ~
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Jean Grey stood by the coffee machine, her fingers drumming absently on the countertop.
Her bright green eyes were fixed on the slow dribble of coffee, but her powerful mind was elsewhere.
She was flitting through the mansion, lightly scanning the minds of the residents to see if there was any trouble or situations in which she could assist.
:: Dammnit, how could one small child disappear so totally. I'll never forgive Logan for this one. ::
Jean felt a smile creep to her face.
/// I heard that, Scott, /// She said telepathically before moving on to another mind.
::: By the Goddess! That's the third windowpane this week. I shall have to have a little talk with young Katherine and Jubilation…::
Jean giggled.
/// I was just passing through, and I happened to catch that last thought, Ro. Those two have been making mischief from the time they first set foot here! I think a suitable disciplining would include waxing the blackbird….///
She shook her head, still smiling, and moved on.
~Remy hope dat bastard Wolverine keeps his chere happy…~
Jean frowned sympathetically and sent a comforting thought in Remy's direction.
///Don't mind me, Remy, I'm just doing my routine check. And you did the right thing. Rogue wouldn't have been there with you, spirit wise...Don't worry. You'll find someone else, Remy. You're irresistible. ///
Jean knew Remy wouldn't mind her catching some of his thoughts, as they were good friends.
~T'anks, chere,~ Remy said as Jean left his mind.
She sighed and closed her eyes.
* Remy's so cute…but he'd never spare even a glance for me. It's all just Rogue, Rogue, Rogue with him!*
Jean frowned, realizing that Kitty probably wouldn't like that she had picked up on this thought.
As of late, Kitty hadn't been acting civil, throwing fits of foul temper and snapping at anyone who offered her help or asked her questions even out of the goodness of their hearts.
She's been acting quite…itchy lately, Jean thought.
Even in her mind, Jean would never say anything foul or mean about anyone.
The coffee maker made a beeping sound, indicating that it was finished with the process of slowly dripping out the 'precious' liquid into its pot.
Jean reached over and removed the pot when a tickling feeling started in the back of her mind.
The pot fell to the ground with a loud tinkle of broken glass as she clutched her head with both hands, trying to grab a mental hold on what she knew to be a psychic probe.
Jean was very experienced in any matters related to the mind, being one of the universe's most powerful telepaths, thanks to the long-ago assistance of the mysterious but legendary Phoenix force.
:: Jean?! ::
Through the haze of confusion Jean managed to make out Scott's frantic thought-voice.
///…Scott…I'm…under…some kind of…attack…come…////
Moments later the said Scott's head appeared through the floor.
"Jean?!" He asked again, this time aloud.
"Help me…" Jean moaned, her head feeling as if it was on fire.
Kitty's head appeared beside Scott's.
"Jean? Are you, like, okay? You're not like manifesting the big bird again or anything, are you?"
Kitty sounded worried.
Jean managed to shake her head.
"Kitty, finish phasing us through," Scott ordered in his Cyclops-tone.
Kitty looked pale but she nodded shakily and took a deep breath as she prepared to rearrange their molecules for sliding through the wooden floor.
Moments later they emerged completely, and Scott ran to Jean's side.
"What's going on, Jean?!" Scott asked frantically, putting a hand on his fiancée's trembling shoulder.
"We're…under attack…Scott," Jean said, tears streaking down her face as the pain in her head doubled to the intensity of a raging inferno.
Scott frowned.
"What do you mean?" He asked in a confused tone.
Jean grimaced as a ripping pain tore through her head----the feeling of being forced to forget something.
It could have been easy for you. It would have. But no, you had to fight it like the good little X-slut you are.
The thought was gone as quickly as it had come, along with it the pain that had so ravaged her mind.
"It's gone," Jean said in a hollow voice, blinking dazedly at Scott.
Scott looked even more confused.
"What was it, anyways?"
Jean shook her head, still bewildered about it herself.
"I don't know, but it was something---someone, rather, that was much stronger than I was. It takes a lot to probe my mind for information."
Scott's jaw tensed.
"Did they get it?" He asked in a quiet tone.
Jean sighed and ran a hand through her long red hair.
"I don't know," She answered finally.
Kitty watched this from the sidelines.
"Are they, like, going to attack the school or something?" She asked, her tone small and afraid.
Jean smiled reassuringly at the girl.
"I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see. Scott, could you finish up your project and double the mansion's security? It might be a good idea, with that little episode and all."
Scott frowned.
"What 'project'?" He asked stupidly.
Jean waved her hand in the air.
"You know…that…thing you were working on…the…"
Her features twisted as she tried to grasp something just out of her reach.
A memory----a flitting remembrance---something urgent they had been doing.
Let go. Just let it go. It's so much easier to forget.
She shrugged and smiled at Scott.
"Nothing. I'm getting a migraine from the power overload. I think I'll go and lie down for a while. Wake me for dinner, will you honey?"
Scott nodded and gave her a quick kiss before taking a hold of Kitty's extended hand and disappearing through the solid oak floor once more.
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Rogue stood in the open doorway, her expression strained as she gazed at the vacant hotel room for the last time, trying to remember.
What did ah leave behind? She wondered, feeling the gap in her mind where some important thing had once rested, some topic that had been blazing at the top of her mind.
"You comin', darlin'?" Logan asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Rogue nodded slowly.
"Ah just…ah feel laike we'ah forgetting somethang."
Logan frowned.
"Me too, kinda. I didn't wanna say anythin'…"
He sighed and drew her into a hug.
"C'mon. I'm sure it's nothin'. We kin always get another if we need to."
Rogue nodded again and followed him out of the room, biting her lip.
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