DISCLAIMER: I do not own the X-Men. But I own the rest of it.
"Y'all should really come around more often. We don't get many normal people 'round these parts."
Anna took the opportunity to jibe her friends. "Rogue, I'd hardly call them normal."
"Oui, Anna does have a point. After all, dey are her friends."
"Very funny."
Ron and Gina had been visiting with Anna's family from time to time for almost three years, and they learned from early on not to get in the middle of certain conversations.
"Non, you wanna see funny, mes amis? Remy's got some pictures here of when Marie was jus' a little tyke..."
"No!" Both Anna and Marie shouted. They knew very well which pictures he was talking about, and by no means did they want them shared.
"It's fahne by me. Ah'll go make some popcorn while y'all work this whole thing out."
Gina jumped up. "I'll help."
They left the room as quickly as they could, as the voices inside grew louder and louder.
"Ah hope Ron has the good sense t' go to the bathroom or somethin' before they all start blowing things up."
A loud bang from behind them caused both women to wince.
"Guess not."
They had just dug out the last bag of microwave popcorn, when the professor telepathically summoned the team to the war room.
"Damn... Gina, you go ahead and make the popcorn and check up on Rob. We'll be back. If ya need any of it, there's a first aid kit in the bottom drawer of the file cabinet."
"Got it."
The group in the room was larger than normal. Not only were the core team members there, but a few of the reserve members were also in attendance, just by coincidence. Havok and Polaris were there visiting as well, and so the War room was unusually full by the time that Rogue got there.
"Sorry Ah'm late."
The Professor nodded, accepting the apology. "I have just received word from Lilandra. They have discovered a myriad of equipment which they themselves are not entirely sure of. They ask that we send a team to investigate the machinery."
"That doesn't make any sense, Professor." Alex set the mug of coffee that he had down on the table. "The Shi'ar are much better equipped to take care of that kind of thing than we are."
"I asked her about that and she insisted that we come. They would not summon us unless it was absolutely necessary."
"The Majestrix is expecting us soon. Scott, I'm going to prepare the necessary information up in my office. When I return, I expect to see the team assembled and the Jet fueled up and ready to go."
"Of course, Professor."
Xavier wheeled out of the room and, as soon as he was out of earshot, the room itself erupted into chaos.
"This is totally bogus!"
"Some vacation this turned out to be"
"I have to work tomorrow, I don't have time for this."
"There is no bloody way I'm going on this mission."
"Why do they even need us!"
"Yeah, the imperial guard can take care of it."
"We're going to do what we've been asked to do." Scott stepped up.
"You mean we're going to do what the Professor's little girlfriend tells us to do." Wolverine was more than happy to throw in his two cents.
"We're going to aide someone who has helped us in the past. Put out that cigar."
"Yeah, or you'll do what?"
"Enough!" Jean's hair started to blow slightly in a wind that no one else could feel. Both Logan and Scott took one look at her before shooting each other angry looks and ending the conversation. Jean smiled and pushed a button, which brought up a screen that automatically generated the team members that would be ideal for the mission based on their individual skills and powers.
"Marie, Josh, Hank, Scott, Rogue, Ororo, Bobby, and myself will be going."
Betsy clenched her fists triumphantly. "Have fun!" She practically skipped out of the room, followed by Wolverine, who was muttering something about going to Harry's for a beer.
Kurt shrugged and bid everyone farewell and good luck, then teleported away. After cracking her gum loudly, Jubilee waved and tugged Kitty out of the room. "Girl, you need to do something with your hair."
"I do not!" Kitty protested but didn't phase out of the younger woman's grip, instead allowing herself to be dragged along. Havok gave his older brother a firm slap on the back. "See you when you get back, Scotty." He and Polaris left the room, leaving only the team members who had been chosen to go along, as well as both Remy and Anna.
"Guess we should let you get ready." Anna headed towards the door, before motioning again for Rogue to follow her and Remy out. Once they reached the hallway and closed the door, Anna lowered her voice. "Be careful about this mission." She gave Rogue a hug. "I'll be seeing you."
She walked away, letting Remy and Rogue have some privacy, and rejoined her friends in the rec. room.
"Are we ready to go yet?" Bobby was somewhat impatient, having been waiting with the rest of the team for some time, as Jean, Scott, Ororo, and the Professor met in private with Lilandra and some of her advisors.
"Oh, Bobby. Give it a rest. We're all bored." Rogue tossed a small inflatable ball at a makeshift basketball net, missing completely.
"Speak for yourself. This stuff is awesome." Marie and Beast were in the back, tinkering around with some of the machinery that they had acquired. Josh walked up towards the cockpit and picked up the ball, tossing it back to Rogue. "It's good to know that you geeks are having a good time." Rogue laughed at his remark, and a pair of black cards were sent flying towards them. Josh stopped the one headed at him with a telepathic shield. The second one hit Rogue square in the face, and she didn't even flinch.
"Uno cards?" Josh picked one up off of the floor. "Aren't these a little bit more expensive than regular cards?"
Marie peeked around the corner, holding a tin of cards. "Yeah, but they're all I had."
"Give us the rest." Rogue held out her hand.
"Come and get them."
"No, you threw them, you bring them."
"You can't tell me what to do, you're not my mother."
Rogue rolled her eyes. Marie's sense of humor left much to be desired. She turned to Josh. "Ah don't know how you put up with her."
She stood up and headed to the back, snatching the tin from her daughter's hand. On her way back to the front of the jet, she tapped Bobby on the shoulder. "You wanna play, frostbite?"
"Oh, yeah."
"If you get any water on the cards, you're automatically out." Josh had played many a game of cards with his "Uncle."
"Fine. I can take a hint." He changed from his ice form back to his flesh and bones form and put his feet up on the seat in front of him.
"Aw, Bobby! Put on some real pants!" Rogue shielded her eyes as Bobby lounged around in his Speedo-like uniform. "It was cute when ya were in your twenties, but now it's just old. And nasty." She stood up and walked to where they kept their uniforms, pulling out a spare of the uniform that Bobby wore when in human form. "Put this on."
He complied, and soon the game was in full swing.
"Draw four, and I'm changing the color to... green." Bobby set down his card and Rogue groaned. He'd been dumping draw fours and draw twos on her the whole time. Luckily, though, there was a knock on the bottom of the jet, where the ramp opened up. Rogue jumped up and pressed the button to open the ramp. She stepped down and nodded respectfully at the large man who stood there. "Gladiator. Long time no see."
"Hello, Rogue."
"What can Ah do for you?"
"The professor said that it was alright if we loaded up some more items for you to take back with you. I have been instructed to deliver them." He gestured behind him, and Rogue followed his gaze to a large stack of metal cases.
"What, is someone new movin' in with us?"
"Excuse me?"
"Nothin', Sugar. We'll take care of them, thanks."
He nodded and flew away. Rogue walked over to the pile of cases and pushed them all as close to the jet as she could get them. Then, she loaded them onto the wheelchair lift and hopped on herself.
About an hour later, they were on their way back to Earth.
"That was a very fulfilling trip." Ororo spoke up as she exited the jet.
"Yes, it seemed as if there was a lot of sitting around, at least from this end of the mission." Josh was trying his best to sound official in his analysis. No one bought it, but those who were prone to speaking up about it were too tired to voice their opinions.
"Ah'm gonna hit the sack. Goodnight y'all." Rogue picked up her bag and headed towards the elevator. Scott and Jean followed her lead, Scott promising the professor to get started on some research first thing in the morning.
"I'm going to head to the lab and begin my analysis of these items" Beast hoisted a few boxes above his head and bounded off of the jet and towards the lab.
"I should probably go give him a hand with that, make sure he doesn't forget to sleep..."
Marie and Josh had been taking heir time getting off of the jet, and by the time they exited the craft, the hangar had completely cleared out.
Josh turned to her, obviously worried. "Marie... when you do that, YOU don't end up getting any sleep either."
She rolled her eyes, even though he had a point. "Don't talk down to me, little man."
"Oh, I'm a little man now?" He put his arms on either side of her, trapping her against a wall and smiling.
"Yes, you're a little man."
"You were saying something different last..."
" STILL HERE!" The shout came from behind the jet, and the two froze, their cheeks turning red as Bobby walked around the back of the aircraft. Silently, he finished going through the post-flight checks on the outside of the craft, making sure that the re-entry into the atmosphere hadn't done any damage to the jet. Satisfied, he signed off on the digital pad and picked up his bag. He pushed the button for the elevator, and as the door closed, he shouted at the last second, "AS YOU WERE!"
Josh put his arms down and stepped away, rubbing the back of his head.
Marie laughed. "That was awkward..."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"I'm just gonna go to..."
"Yeah. I should probably go to bed or something." He stooped to pick up his bag and felt a tug on his arm. Before he knew what was happening, he had been pulled back against the wall and Marie was kissing him.
"Just forgot my... GET A ROOM!" Bobby grabbed a second bag from the foot of the ramp and darted back onto the elevator, leaving Marie laughing hysterically and Josh once again shifting uncomfortably.
"Uncle Hank?" She walked back to her uncle's office and found him immersed in something on his computer. "Hanky, I'm going to start diagnostics on case #3. Alright?"
"Mm-hmm...what time is it?"
"Two thirty."
"Day or night?"
"Morning."
"My stars and garters, you're parents are going to kill me for letting you stay up this late."
"I'm an adult, I can choose my own bedtime, remember? And besides, they'll kill me for the same reason with you. Have you eaten anything since we got back?"
Beast looked thoughtful and tried to remember. "No, I don't believe that I have consumed anything since our return."
Marie opened the largest of his desk drawers and pulled out a box. "Eat some Twinkies."
She walked back out to the lab area and hefted one of the huge adamantium cases off of the floor. Opening it, she pulled out a small oblong box and set it on the exam surface.
"A little dinky box? This is the best that the shi'ar have to offer?"
Chuckling, she turned the box upside down, half expecting to hear it moo. When it didn't, she set it down again and moved to a nearby cabinet, pulling out a scanner. She lifted it towards the box, accidentally bumping the table. A light humming started, but she ignored it, chalking it up to Beast. Soon, though, a blinding flash covered the whole room, before retreating within itself and imploding, leaving the room once again in semi-darkness.
A/N: Am I going to have to hold the next chapter hostage for reviews? I'm crazy enough to do it!