DISCLAIMER: They aren't mine. The characters, that is.

The room was exactly as she had left it, save the ashtray full of stubbed out cigarette butts by the window. She walked over to her dresser, and ran her hand over the wood. There wasn't even any dust. She walked over to the window and opened it. The cool air rushed in, causing the curtains to billow.

I knew the professor said the room had been made up for me, but this is insane, she thought, as she sank down on the cushion of the window seat.

"No kidding."

The voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned around.

"Jean!" She hadn't expected her friend to be standing there, although she should have. Jean was always the first to know when someone arrived in the house.

"Hey Rogue. Glad to see you're back... Plan on staying this time?"

"As of now, I do... Bobby told me that something was wrong with Remy, but no one will tell me what. I'm not allowed to see him or anything either..." she trailed off as her eyes rested on the ashtray near the window. "Did he..."

"What, keep this room? Yes. Wouldn't let anyone near it. He was so sure that you were coming back. Then, he got sick. I don't know that he still thinks you're returning. In fact, I'm sure he thinks you're gone for good."

"What?"

"About a week ago. His illness took a turn for the worse. Hank and I were taking shifts monitoring him. From what I heard him say in his dreams, he thinks you've left forever."

Rogue turned away from her friend. Her plan had never been to leave forever. And she had not wanted to hurt Remy at all, let alone cause him this much pain. Just the opposite. She had hoped that by leaving, she would enable Remy to live a better life.

"It's all my fault."

Jean didn't know what to say. She had expected to break this kind of news to the woman she remembered, not the one that stood before her now. She barely recognized her, but from what Bobby said, this façade could be broken. She knew that before Rogue could see Remy again, she would have to be comfortable once again as herself. She would have to leave the "Anna Marie" version of herself behind.

"There's a team meeting in half an hour. I hope you'll be there."

As the door closed to the room and she was left alone again, she walked over to the dresser. The contents of the drawers were the same. In the same order as they had been before, the clothes refreshingly familiar. She pulled out a clean shirt and changed into it. The one she had worn there had gotten sweaty and gross on the fly over. She threw the dirty shirt into the hamper, and opened up the bottom drawer of her dresser, grabbling a clean pair of pants. As she changed, her eyes wandered over to her closet. Once she was wearing clean bottoms, she walked to it, slowly opening the door. There, hanging neatly waiting to be used, were her uniforms. She reached out to touch one of them, and felt the fabric between her fingers. Suddenly, it seemed as if she hadn't been gone at all. She looked at her watch and was startled to find that 20 minutes had passed. She tugged on her shoes and put on a pair of gloves, then headed towards the study.

Team meetings had been held in Xavier's study for as long as she could remember. Each member of the team had their place that they would stand or sit, nobody was ever assigned a place, they just seemed to assign themselves. Xavier would always sit behind his desk, with Scott and Jean to his right, Scott usually sitting on the desk itself. Ororo Monroe, or Storm, usually sat in the chair to the left of the desk, with Logan pacing behind her. Two couches, one on each side of the desk, and three overstuffed chairs completed the circle. Rogue usually planted herself in the middle chair, with Gambit to her left. The chair to her right had remained empty, unless Dr. Hank McCoy, aka Beast, decided to make an appearance. Nightcrawler and Bobby claimed the couches, and were usually sprawled out on them.

Normally, the circle in the middle of the study had made her feel welcome. As she walked into the room this time, however, it reminded her of a group therapy meeting. The professor was at his desk, working on something or other, and no one else had arrived yet, so she silently sank into her usual seat, noting that there were two extra chairs added.

Great, she thought, looks like there are going to be more people here to witness my return. Its going to be hard enough explaining myself to my friends, let alone strangers.

Just then the door opened behind her and the rest of the team began entering the room. She picked up a book nearby and pretended to be engrossed in it, hiding for some reason. Peering over the top of the book, she saw Jean and Scott walk over to their seats, Scott too immersed in some report to notice her, and Jean giving her a smile. Shortly after, Kurt teleported onto his couch and stretched out. Next, a huge man walked in and sat on the couch that Bobby had normally occupied. Rogue had never seen him before. As she was examining him from behind her book, a fuzzy blue hand reached from behind her and took the book. Looking up, she saw Dr. McCoy, grinning at her. He took the seat to her right, and looked at the cover of the book.

"I had no idea you were into antique milk glass..."

"There's lots of things you don't know, Henry" she responded good-naturedly.

"Aint that the truth" came a grunt from inside the doorway. Logan had arrived, and he was as chipper as ever. He walked over towards the window and stood, staring out of it.

"Our little ray of sunshine" Ororo walked into the room, looking as radiant as ever, truly the goddess she was. "Its good to have you back Rogue. We've missed you."

While they were talking, a woman in her late teens walked in and took a seat in the chair next to the massive man. In the front of the room, Cyclops cleared his throat and everybody sat down.

"We're about ready to start. We're just waiting for Jubilee and..."

A loud voice in the hallway finished his sentence.

"BOBBY!"

Moments later, a young Asian woman ran into the room, holding a pair of frosted-over sunglasses. Noticing that the meeting had started, she quietly apologized and found an open seat. Moments later, Bobby came in, still laughing, and threw himself in a chair. Cyclops did not look amused, as he continued talking.

"Anyway. The first order of business is introductions. As some of you may have noticed, there is someone, um, new, here. Most of you recognize her, but for those of you who don't this is Rogue."

The three team members with whom she was not familiar all looked shocked. The woman whom she assumed was Jubilee spoke first.

"Wait. Rogue? As in—" Scott hated to be interrupted, and continued to speak over her.

"Rogue, as you all know, was a member of the team up until three years ago, when she left. In her absence, we have gained three members." He pointed first to the gigantic man on the couch. "This is Colossus. He joined about three weeks after you left. Next to him is Shadowcat, who was enrolled at the school at the time of your departure, but hadn't yet begun class. Last, but not least, is Jubilee. She also joined within the year. I'm sure that the three of you can meet 'formally' later. Next, we have a new schedule for the danger room. Everyone will be responsible for running at least 2 simulations by themselves per week. Make sure that you schedule them through me and also that you have a spotter to work the controls. We will also have team sessions Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:30 am. Weekends the danger room will be open to the high school level kids, and we will take turns running sims with them. As of right now, our schedule looks pretty clear, mission-wise. The brotherhood has been fairly quiet, and there are no immediate threats. As most of you know, tonight is the homecoming dance. The ballroom is ready, and the students are all excited. Some of them are too excited. We'll be having dinner at 6:45, in the main dining room. Then the high schoolers are welcome to go to the dance. The younger students will be permitted to hang out in the rec rooms and common areas, but will not be permitted to go to the dance. I have a schedule made up of who is going to monitor what and where. Once you get that from me, you are free to go."

He passed a stack of schedules around the room, and everybody took one. The meeting having ended, people headed towards the door, except for Scott, who turned to talk to the professor, and the three newest members who all approached Rogue. Colossus reached her first.

"Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin. It's an honor to meet you. This is Kitty Pryde." He gestured towards the young woman at his side.

"Hi. I've heard so much about you... its great to put a face to the name!"

Within moments, Jubilee was standing in front of the two, smiling and extending her hand.

"Ohmygod! You're definitely not like what Gambit described. I pictured this totally different person. I guess he was embellishing his stories a little. I mean, the hair, for one. I shouldn't have believed that. That's just crazy. And he didn't say anything about glasses either."

"Well, I didn't used to wear glasses. I also—"

"Oh wow, he even lied about your voice. He's a great storyteller, I totally believed him!"

Bobby walked up behind Jubilee and tried to give Rogue a hand.

"Well, you know, she's Kurt's sister ... That family is pretty good at changing their appearances. Rogue just takes after her mother."

Rogue laughed a little at Bobby's joke, and punched him on the arm. Jubilee looked slightly confused, until she got the reference to Mystique.

"Ooooh... right. Well, I gotta go. I'll catch you later, Rogue!" She ran off and up the stairs, and Rogue took off her glasses and started to walk towards her room, Bobby walking beside her.

"Things really have changed while Ah've been gone, haven't they Bobby?"

Surprised at her sudden use of her real voice and her costume change, he was unable to make a wisecrack and instead just answered her. "Yeah, yeah they have. It's been different since the day you left. For everyone. Look, we should go get ready for dinner. I'll see you later. We both monitor the north rec. room after we eat."

"Ok, Bobby. Seeya."

She walked back to her room and took a quick shower. As she brushed her hair, she looked into the mirror.

"Maybe Ah'll just let mah roots grow out this time."

I know, I know, another teasing chapter for all the Romy fans... I almost kicked myself when I realized I'd have to make everyone (myself included) wait at least until next chapter.

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