Oh my Lord, I updated…

Special thanks to Rogue Star, without whose help this would have never gotten posted.

The afternoon sun peered down through the dispersing rain clouds.  The smell of a fresh rain soaked everything, giving a sweet scent to the first hint of the fall breeze.

"New bike?"  Rogue asked. 

Remy looked up from the bike with a smile that reminded Rogue of a small child opening a Christmas present.  "Yep."  He grinned again as he looked back down at the silver and blue sports bike, and this new smile told Rogue that the small child had just received his first BB gun.  "If you remember, the last one met with an unfortunate accident."

"As I recall, you looked worse than the bike."  She commented as she descended the mansion's steps.  "Suzuki Hayabusa 1300."

Gambit smiled, once again reminded that Rogue was no ordinary woman.  Besides, Remy always had a thing for girls who knew their way around a bike.  "Care for a ride?"  He offered, extending a helmet to Rogue.

"Only if you got two of these."  She responded, pulling her hair back and slipping the helmet on.

"Don't worry Chere."  He smiled, producing another helmet and pulling it on.  "Remy learned his lesson."

Rogue smiled, and even though her mouth was hidden by the helmet, Remy saw it in her eyes as she climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest and giving him a little squeeze.

As the bike sped out through the winding driveway of the Xavier Institute, a couple in the nearby woods barely paid heed to the screaming engine.  The two mismatched figures walked along the edge of the woods that surrounded the Institute's grounds. 

"And then Rogue, like, totally freaked out."  Kitty finished the story as they continued to walk, feet falling on the damp blades of grass.

Piotr looked over and down at the girl who walked beside him.  "That doesn't seem like Rogue."

"Well, you haven't seen her on a bad hair day."  Kitty stifled a giggle and looked back up at her walking partner.  "It's a horrible ordeal for everyone."

Piotr smiled, but remained silent as the two continued their walk through the woods that surrounded Xavier's institute.

"The leaves will be changing soon."  Kitty offered as she felt a cool breeze pass her face.

"Yes."

"It always seems depressing to be, you know?"  She looked up to the green trees, so full of life.  "All those leaves dying and falling to the ground."

"But think of the colors in the trees, the yellows, reds and oranges."  Piotr reached up and plucked a leaf off a branch and examined it, twirling it between his fingers.  "It is a reminder that they will be back once the harsh weather of the winter is over."

"Yeah."  She looked at the leaf.  "It is beautiful, especially around here."

"Why do you continue to go on these walks with me Kitty?"  Piotr asked, letting the leaf flutter to the ground as they continued to walk.

Kitty cocked her head to the side in brief thought.  "I enjoy them."

"You seem like you would have a better time going to the shopping centers, or to a movie."

"I enjoy those."  Kitty fought the urge to blush.  "But this is different, it's something special."

Piotr nodded in agreement.  "And much cheaper for me than a shopping center or a movie."

Kitty glared at him, eyes narrowed.  "That had better be a joke."

"It was."  Piotr shrugged.  "But the truth remains I am forced to operate on a fixed budget."

"So."  She smiled, deciding to play along.  "What does Magneto pay you?"

"Do we have to bring work into this otherwise peaceful walk Katherine?"

Kitty pouted and crossed her arms, but could not remain silent.  "Any special benefits?"  She prodded.  "401K, Medicare, free refrigerator magnets?"

It was now Piotr's turn to hide a forming laugh.

"So…"  Kitty began.  "I told you why I like going on walks with you…"  She started, hoping that Piotr would fill in the rest, but remembered who she was talking to.  If anyone was suited for a job in the CIA, it was the tight-lipped man of metal.  "Why do you like walking with me?"

"It's something different."  He looked down at her and smiled as they came into a small clearing.  "You are not like anyone else I know."

"Go on…"  Kitty prompted him to continue, stopping her walk by the edge of the woods, waiting for him to continue.

Piotr turned and looked back at her.  "That was all I had to say on the subject."

"Even I know you better than that."  Kitty smirked.  "Come on, what big words are churning around up there?"  She tapped a finger to her head for emphasis.

There was a moment of silence.

"You show me what heaven will be like."  Piotr walked to stand in front of her.  "When I look at you, listen to you, you remind me of everything that is good in this world.  You show me the innocence of the future generations, whether they are human or mutant, and what can be if we do the right things now."  He reached down and took one of her small hands in his large ones.  "You remind me how much living is worth…"

Kitty stared at him, his downcast eyes which rose ever so slightly to meet hers."

"Kitty I…" 

She squeezed his hand as he slowly leaned his face down to hers.

She rocked up on her toes, hands resting against his chest in order to keep her balance as she craned her lips up to meet him.

"Bloody Hell!"

Both Kitty and Piotr broke their poise, looking to the bushes as a flustered Aussie tumbled through them.  "Freakin vines…"  John cursed, trying to free himself from the entrapping foliage.

John looked up for the first time, noticing his teammate and the young-X-man.  "Hey, what you two up to?"  He questioned, spitting a leaf out of his mouth.

Both Piotr and Kitty just continued to stare.

"You guys okay?"  John asked, managing to finally stand up straight and walk to the two others.  "You all right Kit?  Not coming down with nothing are you, yer face is a little red."

Needless to say, Kitty looked away as she felt the redness spread.

"John."  Piotr spoke, calmly trying to not say anything he may later regret.

"Yeah?"  John asked as he scratched his head at their behavior.

"If you leave right now I will show you how to get the flamethrower on Vice City."

A small cloud of dust was all the remained of John's retreating form.

"Talk about a mood killer."  Kitty commented as the red hair disappeared through the green of the woods.  Once he fully disappeared from sight she turned to look back up at her companion.  "So Piotr, what were you about to say?"

"Nothing…"  Piotr looked up nervously at the sun as it fully emerged from the departing rain clouds.  "We should be getting back."

~~~:*:~~~

"Heeeeeeeey Yaaaaaaaa..."  Tabitha twirled as she danced into the kitchen, her earphones loud enough to be heard by those not wearing ones of their own.  Ripping the door open, she rummaged through the refrigerator before emerging with an ice cold bottle of water.  She opened the bottle and took a swig before shutting the fridge door with a well placed bump of her hip.

She stopped dancing as she discovered she was not the only person in the room.  He quickly looked back down at his newspaper the second she made eye contact with him.  In her Outkast induced frenzy she hadn't even bothered to look if someone might have seen her.  Not that it would have mattered; in fact, they probably would have been more disturbed if she hadn't danced into the room with headphones on.

"Who are you?"  She asked flipping the MP3 player off and pointing an accusing finger in his direction.

Omen looked around, just incase he wasn't the one being indicated.  Confirming his suspicion that the blond headed girl was pointing to him, he looked back at her.  "I'm Gabe."  He laid the paper down.  "I'm new."  He added as she continued to stare at him.

"Ah."  Tabitha rubbed her hands together evilly.  "Fresh meat."

"Excuse me?"  Gabe asked, more than a little worried at the girl's expression.

"Alright, pay attention and I'll lay it all out for you."  Tabitha kicked out a chair and took a seat right next to the bewildered Gabe.  "Bobby will get you in more trouble than you can get out of.  Sam's a good guy, but a little naive.  Ray's got a temper.  Jubilee's a good girl but be warned; both Bobby and Ray have got their eyes on her.  Roberto doesn't give a crap what goes on.  Rahne is shy, but a good friend if you get to know her.  Blue, I mean Kurt, is a jokester, just not as bad as Bobby.  Amara is my girl, mess with her and you mess with me.  Jamie's the young one; don't mess with him, Rogue's kind of protective of him.  Rogue, well, lets just say you're not ready for her yet.  Kitty's a valley girl.  Jean is Scott's.  Scott is Jean's.  Ororo is the mother figure.  Hank is the fun Uncle figure.  The Professor is the understanding Father figure. And Logan is the tough-ass Father figure."  She continued counting out people on her fingers.  "Did I leave anyone out…"

"Well."  He smiled, drawing his gloved hands together and looking at the outgoing girl.  "I guess I'm glad you explained that to me."

"You had better be, I had to learn all that stuff the hard way."

"What about you?"

"Sorry."  She rose her hands up in mock defense.  "Not a permanent resident.  Let's just say that I'll be popping in and out from time to time."

"I see."  Omen nodded.  "Well, do you have a name?"

"Tabitha Smith."  She proudly extended her hand.

"Glad to meet you."  Gabe shook her hand.

"Like the hair babe."  She reached up and flipped her fingers through the two untied silver bangs.  "Really works for you."  She winked.

"Umm, thanks."  Gabe smiled weekly, looking through the now frizzled bangs.

"So what's up for tonight?"  She asked, leaning forward and surprising Gabe with her closeness.

He inched back a little.  "I'm… not sure…"

"Don't tell me you're going to hang around here tonight like another stick in the mud?"

"I was planning to."

"Arg."  She leaned back and threw her hands up in defeat.  "I swear, even when I hop between the X-Men and the Brotherhood there is still nothing to do!" 

The door creaked open, and the two mutants at the table looked over at the visitor.

Logan narrowed his eyes, scowl already present on his face.  He figured the Smith girl was probably eating their food again, but he hadn't sniffed out that Gabe was in here with her.

Nobody said anything.

"I'm sorry."  Gabe finally offered, wondering what had caused the silence.  "Is this your seat?"  He asked, beginning to rise from the position at the head of the table.

Logan just grumbled something under his breath and left the same way he came in.

Gabe looked back to Tabitha.  "Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh, that's just Wolverine."  She gave a casual dismissing wave and leaned back in her seat, propping it up on two legs.  "He can get a little, well, grumpy."

"Oh."

"Don't worry."  She rocked the seat forward, landing with a thud and standing back up.  "Everyone talks about his bad bite, but all I've heard since I showed up was barking."  Tabby laughed and replaced the earphones on her ears, turning the volume back up.  "Alright alright alright alright…"

Gabe just watched the singing girl dance her way out of the room.

~~~:*:~~~

Quicksilver stopped running as he reached the door to his father's office.  Straitening his shirt and slicking his windswept hair back with his hands; he rapped his knuckles against the metal door and entered.

"Hey."  He called out as he noticed his father sitting at the desk.  "I mean, yes sir?"  He quickly corrected.

Eric briefly glanced up at his son before tossing a folder onto the table.  "Take these to Charles."

"Sure."  He bent down stiffly, the soreness from the injuries he had gotten in the museum robbery still restricting his movement.

"You are not well yet?"  Eric asked, arching a dark eyebrow up into his silver hairline.

"I'm fine."  Pietro managed to say without clinching his teeth as he straitened up.

"You should be healed by now."

"Sorry."  He turned to face the door.  "I'm just a little sore."  He hated his father seeing weakness in him.

"Pietro."

"Yes?"  Quicksilver turned to face his father.  Since the museum incident his father had barely spoken to him.

"Charles has a new mutant there I hear."  Magneto turned back to his window.  "Get him to look at you."

Pietro started to respond, but just turned and exited his father's office.

~~~:*:~~~

Rogue instantly jumped from the bike as it slowed to a stop in the mansion driveway, looking at the demon machine like it was going to bite her.  Her shaky legs tried their best to hold the panting girl up as she fumbled with the strap to her helmet.

"That bike is not stock!"

"Never said it was."  Remy smiled as he pulled his helmet off, his own voice shaking a little.  He honestly has no idea himself that the bike was going to be like that, but he was very pleased that the favor he had called in was more than worth it.  "Had a girl I know in Louisiana fix it up for me and ship it out here."

"Girl in Louisiana?"  Rogue questioned, the adrenaline still coursing through her bloodstream.  "Somebody I should know about?"

Remy smiled as he hung his helmet on the handlebar.  "Just a friend."

Rogue, still in her helmet, put her hands on her hips.  "This friend got a name?"

"Angelle Savoie."

"She built the bike?"

"Yeah."  Remy chuckled.  "Let's just say she's good at what she does…" 

Rogue punched him in the arm.

"Ow!  What was that for?"  He asked, rubbing his shoulder vigorously.

Rogue smiled as she removed her helmet and tossed it to Remy.  "Wasn't completely sure that 'good at what she does' was referring to building bikes…"

Remy smiled.  "You wound me Chere."

~~~:*:~~~

Logan, arms crossed, sat in the study staring into the wall.  Although he was not endowed with the powers of optic blasts, such as the young Cyclops, the expression 'If looks could kill' defiantly applied.

"My, you seem quite disturbed."  Ororo greeted as she entered the study and walked over to the quiet Wolverine.  "I though your class with the younger students wasn't until later this afternoon?"

"It ain't."

"I trust nothing's wrong?"  Storm asked.

Logan managed a half shrug.  "Don't like the new kid."

"Aww…"  Ororo cooed, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as she took the seat next to him.  "Now I know it feels like you are being ignored with all these new people around, but Charles and I still love you."

Despite his best efforts, Logan cracked a smile.  "You know Ororo; you're the only person around here that can get away with something like that."

Storm smiled, brushing her hand off his shoulder as she leaned back and crossed her legs.  "So, what's wrong with Gabe?"

Logan shrugged and leaned back in his seat.  "Just a feeling."

"One of your senses."

"Naw, nothing I need a mutation to see."  Wolverine dismissed.  "You don't live as long as I have without learning how to read people."

"If I recall correctly, you didn't care for Gambit when he first came here."  Storm looked over at Logan's unchanging expression.  "And I'm sure you still have your suspicions…."

"Gumbo's a rattlesnake."  Wolverine interrupted.

"Pardon?"

Logan sighed.  "You walk up on a rattlesnake in the woods, and he'll let you know what he is.  He coils up, arches his neck to strike, and starts shaking his tail.  A rattlesnake is telling you 'You know what I am, and you know what I'm gonna do to you.'"

Ororo listened as Logan continued.

"But then you got water moccasins."  Logan leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms behind his head.  "You can be mindin your own business, and that moccasin will stalk you.  Hide, follow you, wait until everything is nice and quiet, then attack you when you least expect it."

Ororo watched as Logan grunted and got up, slowly striding for the door.  "Been wrong before though."

Notes:

The song Tabby was listening to:  "Hey Ya" by Andre 3000 of Outkast.

Who is Angelle Savoie: 2002's NHRA Pro Stock Bike Champion.  She's from Louisiana and owns a Suzuki Bike dealership just outside of New Orleans where they provide aftermarket accessories and complete engine builds.  Search for her on the net.  Just figured it would be a neat little side note for any fellow drag racing fans who might be reading.  

Keebler-elmo:  No, Omen can't control his power, he wears long sleeves and gloves like Rogue.

Ishandahalf:  So many gold stars and not a place to put them.  Glad you liked the kitchen scene, but like I said in my review the bulk of the Scene was Rogue Star1's.  So now you got to go review her and tell her how much you liked it.  Opposite powers canceling each other out…  Sorry, but my lips are sealed.  HA HA HA

Weeble Wobble Chic:  Issues give us our personality. 

Cool-chick-rae:  I like X23 too, but I can't figure out a way to put her in here without it just seeming like a cameo.  And I want to the character more justice than that so I'm going to hold off.  I missed the Brotherhood episode (poor me).

Epona:  Glad you like the Bobby scene.  As for Omen, like I told ishandahalf: "…"

Rogue Star1:  Glad you liked it, of course what else could you say: "I thought the kitchen scene blew hard, oh… wait… I wrote that didn't I?"  lol  Glad you finally got to see 'Cajun Spice', and how about the John scene in there?  Can't believe they moved Piotr back to Russia, hope he comes back for the season finally.  Anyway, glad you like it and hoped you liked this one.

Rogue Pryde:  I'm glad you enjoy it.  But like I've said before, there are much better thought out and written fics out there than mine.  As for something terrible happening to our young couples, I take no pleasure in torturing them, but I won't rule anything out.

Deacon:  Hope this takes care of some of the other parings for a chapter or two.  I know I've been neglecting the other couples, but hopefully I can give them some more page time now.

Take it easy everybody, and until next time (insert witty comment here).