Thanks to:
Furygrrl – Glad you liked the change in line-up! And I always wondered how Jean could be so cheerful with Amara acting like a whiny brat.
Oceanbang – I like feisty Kitty! And Rogue/Jean might not find life with Scott all she thought it would be…
Kurttyscogue – The warped Jott/Scogue will be lasting for a while yet, hee hee!
X00001 – Glad you liked it!
LadyEvils – Lancitty rules! And Mystique's back in this chapter.
Lyranfan – Scott's a lucky dude all right! But I dunno if his luck's gonna last…The PMS thing, I just had to put that in there.
Rogue14 – Always good to know I can still surprise!
XX-Goth-Gal – Kitty was really quiet with the Brotherhood, I just wanted to go back to it before she started being all feisty and leather-clad!
Raphaella – Glad you're enjoying it, and hope that this one is equally addictive!
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution.
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"Mutant ball!"
What started out as a simple game of baseball had rapidly descended into chaos. Beast had given up trying to referee the game and had let the students do as they pleased. Most of them were using their powers to gain an advantage, a practise that had already cost six balls, two bats and about a third of the pitch.
Make that two thirds thought the Beast as an earth tremor demonstrated how Lance was defending second base. The ground was still for a moment, then another tremor indicated that the play had not been a success.
Lance stalked off the field and hit the benches, Kitty joining him a second later. "C'mon Lance, don't be such a grouch!"
"They should make a 'no flying' rule," grumbled Lance. "I'd have had Rogue out otherwise!"
"Hey, we managed 'no powers' for an entire inning, what more do you want?" Kitty looked over to where her striped-haired teammate was celebrating with Scott.
Lance followed her gaze. "Do you think Rogue seems…different these days?"
Kitty frowned. "Sure, but that's only to be expected. She's been through a lot. We all have."
"That's not what I mean." Lance frowned, trying to put his vague suspicions into words. "It's more like a personality thing. She never used to be so quick to use her powers…"
"This is about her draining you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, kinda. She wouldn't have done that when we were with the Brotherhood."
"When we were with the Brotherhood she wouldn't have moved without Jeans say-so. She just did what she thought was for the best. I mean, you're not exactly the easiest person to reason with when you're upset."
Lance tried to glare at her, but couldn't hold the expression. "I was just worried about you. And what if Jean's still giving the say-so? I mean, not from the coma or anything, but what if Rogue picked up her personality?"
"That's ridiculous! It's been so long now, we'd have noticed something by now. She's picked up a few little habits, but she's nothing like Jean."
"I guess not." Lance looked over to the game, the pitch looking more like a crater than a field. Scott had just been declared out and was trying to look disgusted, but he couldn't hide the smile. Rogue was saying something to him and to Lance, they seemed flirtatious in a way they never had before.
"Do you think – y'know, Scott and Rogue?"
"You're serious?" Kitty laughed. "Even if they like each other, they couldn't do anything about it."
"I know, it's just…"
A shadow fell over the pitch and everyone paused to look up at the newcomer. Scott frowned, shading his eyes. "Angel?"
"Whoa!" Kitty gazed across at the man. "Is that the guy you met in New York?"
"Yeah," replied Lance, scowling. "He's not that great. So you can just reel your eyes back in!"
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Jean was trying to concentrate on her book, but her thoughts kept drifting back to what had happened in London. She was sat under a tree outside the school, trying to enjoy her free period relaxing, but the events of the last few days refused to leave her mind.
They'd gone after the second half of the spider stone only to find that Magneto had taken the Acolytes to get it too. Jean had gotten a nasty shock to find her up against the only team she'd ever been on where she hadn't felt the need to control them.
"Oh look, we got X-Men," Pyro had growled, looking straight at her. Jean realised that they knew what had happened to her – and they thought she was Rogue too.
"And I think they wanna play!" Gambit pulled out a couple of playing cards, charging them with kinetic energy and for the first time ever, Jean froze. Scott pulled her out of the way before she could be set on fire and she'd managed to pull herself together and fight. When Mesmero had joined the stones and unleashed a giant green spider on the streets of London she'd once again fought beside the Acolytes, preferring their incautious, over-the-top methods to the X-Men's attempts to subdue the arachnid.
I was happy with them…and I blew it.
Pyro had been spontaneous, fun to be around, happy to let others take charge. Scott however was uptight, predictable and any romantic gestures on his part were self-conscious and awkward. Maybe in another life Scott would have been the one for her, but she couldn't share dreams of a better future or his moral outlook on life.
Which left her in a dilemma. She'd acted out the role of Rogue too well – if she just took off, the X-Men would come after her and if she went back to t he Acolytes they'd probably blast her before she could explain to them who she was.
Her musings were interrupted when she sensed a familiar presence nearby.
Mesmero.
She got to her feet and tracked the presence, realising that the man was lurking under the bleachers. She went to confront him, hoping to take him by surprise.
"Hello Mesmero."
Far from seeming surprised, Mesmero turned and smirked as though he'd been expecting her. "Hello…Jean."
Jeans eyes widened. "Ah – ah don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh really? You've hidden yourself well. Even the great Professor Xavier doesn't suspect the truth. But Apocalypse knows."
"Apocalypse again." Jean glared at the man. "What's your angle? Why are you here?"
"The X-Men will never stop Apocalypse. He will rise again, but he will not forget those who are loyal. I am here to give you the chance to serve him."
"Serve Apocalypse?" Jean laughed. "Why would I? And why would he want my help anyway?"
"Rogues powers are needed. She is the key to freeing Apocalypse. And since you have Rogues powers…"
"I get the picture."
Jean scowled. Rogue again! Why does everything always come back to Rogue? "So what's in it for me?"
"Apocalypse has great plans for the future. To be part of those plans is an honour."
Jean thought about it. She'd been thinking about leaving the X-Men anyway and being part of a new world order did sound promising…
"What do you want me to do?"
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On the astral plane…It had been days since Jean had checked on Rogue, convinced that the girl was safely trapped. It was with some alarm that she found the walls of the prison crumbling. Rogue had obviously been trying to fight back.
Jean concentrated on repairing the damage before speaking. "Hi Rogue. Trying to escape? Naughty naughty. It won't work y'know. Might as well give it up."
She took her usual position, sitting cross-legged on a rock, unsurprised when Rogue refused to answer. She played with a strand of the long red hair that her astral self retained and she missed so much posing as Rogue.
"I've been having a good time with your friends. We went to London at the weekend…oh, and I've been dating Scott."
Rogues face appeared at the barred window. "You leave him alone you bitch!"
"What's wrong? Afraid I'll break his heart?"
"Ah'm not gonna let you. I WILL get control back!"
"Not unless I want you to. And right now, I don't. Anyway, gotta go. I've got a date tonight, with Scott."
"NO! You come back here right…"
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"Kurt, wake up! Everyone's overslept!"
"Just five more minutes?"
Kitty phased her hand through the duvet and pulled Kurt out. "We're gonna be late for the last day of school!"
"No way!"
Still brushing her teeth, Kitty passed through the door, down to the ground floor and ran into the kitchen. She walked straight through Scott on her way to the cereal and the boy glared after her before turning his attention to where Jean stood in the doorway, watching the panicky preparations with disdain.
"Hey Rogue. You gonna stand there all day or do you want something to eat?"
"Ugh. Ah think ah'm gonna pass on breakfast this morning."
She walked away from the kitchen, allowing herself a grin. Morons. Don't even wonder why they're all up late today…
"What are you so happy about?"
"Huh?" Jean glanced up to see Lance looking at her curiously. "Oh, just happy it's the last day of school. And you and Scott are graduating! You must have some good memories, aren't you even a little bit excited?"
"Not really." Lance seemed puzzled by her attitude and Jean hurried away, silently cursing herself. Rogue would never be excited about something school-related, except maybe an explosion. It wouldn't be long before she could drop the whole goody-goody X-Man act, but in the meantime she couldn't arouse suspicion. She had too much to lose.
She managed to act natural as Scott drove her to school, stealing a kiss when no-one was looking – she'd persuaded him to keep the secret about her powers being under control just a little longer – but when he'd gone to class she doubled back and left the school. A limousine waited for her at the side of the road and she got inside. They drove away, undetected.
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"Just because we've drawn a truce doesn't mean I've forgotten what you did, murderer."
Jean smirked at Mystique. Those were the first words the shape-shifter had said to her since picking her up outside the school. They'd gone over to the Brotherhood house and most of the way back in silence. It sounded as though Mesmero had clued her in on the situation of her dual identity and didn't like it.
"Calm down Mystique. She stole my life, I stole hers. Fair exchange. Anyway, if you hate me so much, why are you here?"
"I'm here to secure my future, and Rogues. Irene might be dead, but Rogue isn't. I want her back."
Mystique couldn't read minds like she could, remembered Jean. It sounded like the man had fed her a lie and she'd fallen for it. Jeans job was to make sure Mystique didn't lose her illusions. The truth would come out soon enough.
Because I LIKE having these powers – and Rogue's never coming back.
"We're back at Bayville High," said Forge nervously from the drivers seat. He'd seen first-hand how angry Raven had been upon discovering Destiny's death and he wasn't sure that a deal with Mesmero or the thought of Rogue would stop her if Jean pushed too far.
Jean got out of the limousine and headed into school. Now that the X-Men and the Brotherhood had all been 'collected' there was only one more group to go…