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"Ugh, God Scott, what do you eat?" With a huff Rogue and Todd dropped the still frozen body of Scott Summers onto the ratty brown couch, the others were dropped onto the floor or the armchair. Except for Nightcrawler who was posed against the wall. "You think he's heavy, try Mr Adamantium over here. Lance was collapsed against the floor panting after unceremoniously dropping Logan face down on the floor. Storm was seated a bit more elegantly on the armchair. "It would have been a lot easier if you'd unfrozen them you know." That was Todd, crouching on the floor, sighing Rogue slid down to sit on the floor next to him. I know, but I know them, I don't trust them not to start a fight trying to get me out of here." Blowing a strand of hair out of her face she sank her hair down onto her knees. One by one Lance, Fred and Pietro sank down next to them on the floor. For a while they just stayed like that, until Lance looked up and passively observed the frozen Kurt, "How long you gonna keep em like that?"

"A while."

"Serves them right for pulling you out of the club in the middle of our celebration."

"They're gonna be really pissed when they find out you kept them like this for too long."

The conversation passed up and down the line of mutants, none of them looked at each other, all disinterestedly observing the frozen X-Men. After a few more minutes Pietro sighed and looked down the line. "Bed." With staggered nods they all stood and headed into their rooms. Doors slammed one after the other and the light turned off, leaving frozen bodies waiting.

Yawning Rogue walked out of her room pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She smiled at the boys who were sitting round the kitchen counter. They were all wearing either sweatpants or boxers. Todd was balancing on a stool, head resting next to a bowl of cereal. Pietro and Lace were playing cards while Fred was cooking. Sliding onto a stool Rogue checked on the living room and found them all in the same positions as last night, including Logan, splayed out on the floor with his nose stuck in a crack between floor boards. Stifling a giggle she smiled at Fred as he put a plate with a bacon sandwich underneath her nose. Then whacked Todd on the head before giving him another sandwich. After they had eaten breakfast and bantered in the way they always did at breakfast they wet to get dressed.

When they were ready they walked into the living room and manoeuvred Scott onto the floor, leaving the sofa free for them. They carefully arranged were they were going to be sitting to give the proper sense of protective family. Rogue was in the middle, one leg curled up under her and she was leaning back onto Pietro and Lance's arms who were seated one either side of her. Todd was seated on the left arm of the sofa and Fred was stood threateningly behind all of them.

With a quick glance round to check that they were all ready Rogue flicked her wrists and the X-Men unfroze.

With a muffled roar Logan sprang up off the floor, throwing Scott into the wall, Ororo looked around dazed while Kurt toppled over with a muffled cry.

"You may sit down on the floor but you may not move anywhere else. If you take one step towards our sister we'll make Sabretooth attacking you look like a pussycat. Clear." With a raised silver eyebrow Pietro stared the X-Men into submission. Shakily they all sat down, possibly because of the energy field forcing them onto the floor. And waited for an explanation.

"Four years ago Pietro and I left our home and moved to a group home with these three. Two years after that we had to leave there, we didn't want to do what they were training us to do. For the next year we ran all over America and Canada, going where we wanted, doing what we wanted. Then Magneto found us.

There was a fight, a really bad one. The Acolytes are older than us, more experienced, Mastermind, a telepath, tore down the walls in my mind. Whenever I absorb someone the imprint of their psyche stays there, they yell at me, loudly, try to take control. So eventually I managed to build rooms for them in my head. Getting them proved to be the key to getting my skin under control.

So when mastermind loosed the psyches, everything got loose. They were taking over, so I told the boys to go on without me. They did, eventually. And I started to get them under control. I did, and then I ran into Logan. I needed a ride and took his offer. I never expected anything after that. Then I got into the whole school thing, being a normal mutant teenager, I missed this lot, but I didn't want to go back till I was fully in control again. But then people started whispering, blaming me for Jean's death. I didn't want to believe it, but no one was on my side anymore, not even by best friends and my boyfriend. I'd had it, so I left. Marie is dead, Rogue's back."

The look on her face was ice cold when she finished speaking, but the tears softly shining in her eyes gave away her distress at being blamed for Jean's death. The force field had fallen and slowly Scott moved forwards and wrapped his arms round her, whispering in her ear. "We never blamed you Rogue, you should have come to us." Drawing back he saw the smile on her face, and then the ones on the face of her brothers, he had been accepted by them for showing their sister the care she deserved. Scott was pushed aside by Kurt who wrapped both arms and a tail around the girl and was accepted as readily by her brothers. Then they all turned to the two X-Men who had still not moved.

Ororo was still in the chair, mind whirling. She didn't blame Marie, but the stories she had heard from Irene and the girl herself. What if Rogue was a danger to the children in the school, what if they were right to always be scared of her.

Logan was calming down through the fog of rage, he could smell tears coming from his Marie, and he could smell the male bodies around her, most smelling of care, one of care and stinking of lust. He didn't need to think about anything, as soon as he was fully calmed down he stood and pulled Rogue into a hug, swinging her around in the air, making her laugh.

When the laughter died down, eight faces turned to Storm, still sitting in the chair, faces wrenched into a look of confusion. "I'm sorry." She blurted out, looking very unlike her usual composed self, "I'm so sorry child." With that she ran to the door and left the apartment, the door slamming shut behind her.

In the echoing silence Rogue scanned the face of the three remaining X-Men, seeing what she wanted to see, Logan was looking fiercely protective, and her empathy was also picking up on anger at the way Storm had deserted her. Kurt looked as kind and gentle as always, and she sensed anger at the way she had been treated at the school. But Scott was the most puzzling of all. His face was impenetrable if you were trying to see what he was feeling, but his emotions were raging, anger at Storm and the school's treatment of Rogue. Wonder at how she had managed to be so quiet and caring from the life he had pieced together from Irene's story, and amazement at the close-knit family her brothers formed. "Do you guys want to get changed, I kinda left you frozen all of last night." With an embarrassed cringe Rogue leaned away into Pietro's arms as the older mutants glared at her with looks ranging from sarcastic anger to amusement. And with that they stalked off down the hallway, looking for showers and clothes that might fit them.

Please review, please.

Rogue: absorbing personalities and powers through skin-to-skin touch. But in this story she can use powers she's previously absorbed. Freezing things (not ice, just stopped), empathy, energy fields, power over metal, advanced healing, power over ice, telepathy, and any others that she has absorbed from anyone. (Basically anything I can use for the story.)

Lance (Avalanche): creates earthquakes

Pietro (Quicksilver): super speed

Fred (Blob): strength, invulnerability

Todd (Toad): massive lower body strength, really long tongue

Kurt (Nightcrawler): Blue with a tail, teleportation.

Scott (Cyclops): red energy beams out of eyes.

Logan (Wolverine): really advanced healing.

Ororo (Storm): controls the weather.

Irene (Destiny): visions of the future.

I think this is are all the main characters I'm going to use, but I'll explain the powers of anyone else I put in.