DISCLAIMER: Still don't own the X-Men or Survivor.

"Home Sweet Island" Tallon leaned into the window as the jet circled Genosha. "Almost reminds you of Oz, hey Danny?"

"No. It does not."

"Crikey mate. You need to—"

"Tallon! Shut the hell up!" Daniel had reached the breaking point. Normally, he was a very patient man, but Tallon's incessant blabbing, as well as the fact that they had just given up food, warmth, shelter, beds and indoor plumbing to live together on a desert isle had his patience wearing thin.

"Oh, can't you both just put a sock in it? You're giving me a bloody headache." Malachi was rather cranky as well. In fact, all of the occupants of the jet were in less than ecstatic moods. They had bid farewell to the X-Men back at the mansion, and boarded the jet with Cyclops and Gambit, who came along to pilot.

The jet set down on the beach, sinking softly into the sand. Each of the castaways grabbed their bags (graciously provided courtesy of the X-Men and emblazoned with the team logo) slowly and dragged their feet getting onto the beach and starting the trek back to camp.

Sarah spun around, having counted the people walking in front of her and noticed that there were two missing. She watched as the real reason that the two men had piloted the jet was revealed.

"We'll catch up." She wasn't yet accustomed to Jean's telepathic messages, but she understood and jogged up to Bobby to relay the message. After successfully talking him into carrying her bag, they headed up the trail.

"Hey Jean, can we get some privacy?" Rogue hadn't even bothered to get out of her seat yet.

"No, We called the jet."

"You did not!"

In the cockpit, Scott and Remy were going through the post-flight checklist. They looked at each other, matching expressions on their faces. They could put a stop to the brewing argument, but what would be the purpose of that?

"It doesn't matter! Scott's team leader, that means we automatically get the jet."

"No, all that means is that y're tryin' t' sleep your way to the top!"

""Is that what it means?"

"Yeah, that's what it means. And don't you go pokin' around inside my head either, or else Ah might have t' poke around in your face."

"I dare you to try it."

Remy and Scott had finished running down the list and were sitting in the pilot and co-pilot seats, watching. Remy lit a cigarette and offered one to Scott, who politely declined.

"Oh, Ah'll try it. Ah'll lay you out and your little boyfriend there'll have t' carry you outta the jet."

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend, he's my husband which is more than I can say for you and your little boy toy."

Across the jet, a boot extinguished a half-smoked cigarette.

"Dieu... She's going too far."

"Just let them get it out."

"Easy for you to say. De femme di'nt just call you a boy toy."

"Well you sort of are..."

"Summers, don' make me do somet'ing dat I'm going to regret."

"Ooh, hey look." Scott pointed to the girls, half trying to get Remy's attention off of him and half because the fight had escalated into a slapping match.

"What I don' get," Remy said as he lit another cigarette, "is why dey even bot'er wit de slapping. Dey got dose powers an' all. Eit'er one could lay bot' of us out wit' one hit."

"Maybe that's the point. Anyways, why complain? Just enjoy it."

Jean's hand connected solidly with Rogue's face, but she was prepared. She was also done playing clean. Jean stumbled back as Rogue absorbed part of her. Before Rogue could launch herself at Jean to finish the fight off, Jean used her telekinesis to slam the other woman against the side of the jet. Scott shot out of his seat.

"HEY! Watch the jet!"

"You still enjoyin' it, Mon Ami?"

Rogue had recovered, only slightly winded. She picked up a rock and rushed at Jean, landing a punch with one hand and hitting her in the face with the rock. Jean fell back, and both Scott and Remy winced.

"Ouch... dat's gonna hurt in de morning."

Scott rubbed his face, remembering danger room sessions of the past. Before he could react, Jean had leapt into the air, ready to retaliate. Scott breathed a sigh of relief.

"Force field."

Remy nodded knowingly as Rogue, too, leapt into the air, matching Jean. Jean lifted herself higher into the air, and Rogue matched her height again. They continued to rise higher and higher, until both men had to squint to see them.

"Dis is getting frustrating."

"Yeah, you ready to go?"

"Oui."


"Holy crap, what are those!"

"Birds?"

"Don't you see how big those are? No way those are birds."

"Planes, maybe?"

"No, I think that's...yeah. That's Jean there. The one on the left. And on the right, no, left now. Ro-Anna." Bobby laughed as he pointed at them, sorely tempted to ice up and get a closer look.

The entire aerial catfight had been caught on tape.

"Ouch. That looks like it hurts." Kitty held her won head as Jean got a fistful of Rogue's hair onscreen.

"Kick her ass! Kick her bloody ass, Rogue!" Betsy's eyes were filled with the passion that was usually only reserved for football (or soccer, take your pick) games. Before she had a chance to realize what exactly she'd said, pillows began hitting her, coming not only from the living room, but also from people's bedrooms.

"Why are you taking her side!" Jean was angry. And pillows were still flying. A large purple Care-Bears pillow hit Betsy square in the face. Picking it up, she looked around the room.

"Jubilee? Is this yours?"

"Nope. But I know whose it is." Jubilee grinned as if she was conspiring against someone, and instinctively, most of the team leaned in to listen.

"So... who is it?"

"GAA" Logan exploded from across the room and leapt over to Betsy, wrenching the pillow out of her hands and running out of the room. No one could think of anything to say, until Jubilee cleared her throat.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Oh, man... that looked like it hurt"

The aerial battle was escalating, and Rogue had just been knocked out of the sky and was falling towards the ground, near where the other castaways were standing, watching. They winced collectively as a loud crack sounded from the near woods, and a large tree started to fall.

"Someone gonna check on that? She's probably hurt."

"Just give it a second." Bobby was completely uninterested.

Sure enough, Rogue was back in the air within seconds.

"Oh, man... and NOW, ladies and gentlemen, the gloves are off. Literally." Bobby was enjoying doing the running commentary of the fight. And there was a lot to comment on. Jean had let her guard down for a second, opening up just enough room for Rogue to get her hand securely on Jean's face. They were at a stalemate. Either Jean fought back and succeeded in knocking Rogue out of the air, or she risked Rogue actually absorbing her. Rogue's invulnerability would save her from such a large fall (again), but Jean couldn't use her powers to shield herself when she was unconscious. Even though the cameras were unable to pick up the conversation, the result of the fight was clear. Jean threw her hands up in the air, and Rogue smiled and headed towards the beach, before noticing something. Her anger was then taken out on a tree, as she landed in the middle of the woods. Jean landed near the group, laughing.

"Dieu... If we'd known you'd take it out on de greenery, we'd have stayed longer."

Scott looked at Remy, and both of them started to smile, before stating at the same time, "No, we wouldn't."

Pillows started flying again.

"Shouldn't we wait for Anna?" It was hard to tell whether Malachi actually wanted to be kind or he wanted to see what size bruises she'd have after felling a number of huge trees.

"She'll catch up." Jean waved dismissively and held up her hand. Seconds later, her bag flew to her from wherever it had been tossed on the beach.

"Ah'll catch up, will Ah? What if Ah'd gotten hurt or something? You were really ready t' just let me stay there, all broken and..."

"The only one who got hurt there was the trees. You tore down about a square mile of foliage!" Jean gestured somewhat wildly.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Merde, here we go again..."

"Could you two take this somewhere else? We're trying to watch the show." Betsy pointed at the screen impatiently.

Both women decided to stay quiet, but continued to shoot glares at each other, and soon, they were having a full-out argument via telepathy.

"I said to cut it out! You're giving me a bloody headache!" Betsy bellowed, leaving the entire room silent.

"No powers?" Wringing out her shirt, Rogue looked at the other girls. "Ah can't even do that. Ah don' know when Ah'm usin' my powers half the time."

"Hey, at least they gave us a whole day to prepare." Betty squeezed the last droplet of her shampoo out into her hand. "Dangit... anyone have shampoo I can borrow?"

"That depends. Are you going to help me build shelter on the challenge tomorrow?" Katie raised an eyebrow, waiting for the answer.

"You know I am. We agreed, we stick together as long as possible, right?"

The other girls nodded in agreement, and Katie grinned and tossed the bottle of shampoo at Betty, who caught it. "This is still a full bottle... how'd you manage to keep it this long?"

Katie swam over to a waterfall and rinsed out her hair. "I didn't. I sweet-talked one of those X-Boys into buying me some more."

"Going against the rules?" Sarah looked up from where she was trying (unsuccessfully) to get sand out of her shoes. "One of the good guys? That jut kills my faith in the team."

"Yeah, well everyone has weaknesses. Which one was it?" Jean was laying on a rock in her bathing suit while the rest of her clothes seemed to wash themselves in the pool.

"The blue hairy one. He said he knew how important it was to keep one's fur clean."

Jean and Rogue exchanged a look. "Which blue hairy one?" They said in unison.

"Um... the one with the pointy teeth?"

"Be more specific, Katie." Jean sat up. "Did he have a tail?"

"Wow." Betty shook her head. "This is by far the oddest conversation I've ever had."

Rogue laughed. "Get used to it, Sugar."

"Yeah." Katie looked thoughtful. Or constipated. It was hard to tell. "He had a tail. And a cute accent. He was kind of hot."

A soggy pair of shorts flew at Katie's head. She saw it, though, and shrunk her head down very small, so that the pants hit a tree behind her, instead, with a loud crack.

"What! What did I say? He is hot."

"Yeah, he's also mah brother. And he's a priest. Don't be going all Pearl Jam on him, y'hear?"

Katie smiled. "Yeah, now I see the family resemblance... you both have fangs."

"And don't forget it." Rogue went back to washing her clothes. "Give me those shorts, would you?"

Katie rolled her eyes and stretched out, reaching the shorts easily and flinging them back at Rogue. Betty finished washing her hair and sat up on the edge of the stream.

"I still don't see why it's going to be a problem. I mean... explain it to me, would you? Isn't your power something about skin? So just don't touch anyone. And don't fly. That's easy enough."

"No, Ah mean... yeah, that's my power, but Ah have others, too. Like strength. Ah don't even know when Ah'm usin' that anymore. And 7th sense. It all just comes naturally now. Besides, Ah can't help it if we get attacked by bees and y'all get stung up but Ah walk away without a scratch."

"Can't you just...turn it off?"

"Can you just turn off your lungs?"

"Of course not."

"There you have it."

"Collars." Jean spoke up from across the way, earning four identical quizzical looks. "I bet they'll use collars. Like the ones from Genosha... the prisons, I mean. Power dampeners."

Rogue's eyes grew wide. "You think? Ain't that a little dangerous, letting people know that that kind of technology is out there?"

"Wait a minute... what kind of technology?" Sarah had a pretty good idea, but didn't like not being filled in on everything.

Jean slid off the rock and into the pool collecting her clothes and laying them out to dry. "Power dampeners. They used them like crazy back when Genosha was basically a huge mutant containment center. Completely negates any mutant power. Of course, back then they were highly unstable. Often had side effects, but more recently, there have been advancements made in the technology. They no longer have to be collars. There's one type that we saw used where the field covered about a thirty square foot area. All mutants within range found themselves without the ability to use their powers."

Rogue had grown silent, something that Betty noticed almost immediately. Turning to Jean, she lowered her voice a bit.

"By saw used, you mean 'had used on us,' don't you?"

Jean nodded quietly. Moments passed, and no one said anything, then there was a sudden splashing sound as Rogue launched herself into the air.

Jean sighed, and everyone looked at her.

"Well," Sarah started. "Aren't you going to go after her?"

Jean shook her head. "No, it's better to let her work it out. It's a bit of a sore subject. If she isn't back here in fifteen minutes, I'll have Bobby go after her."

She collected her clothes and Rogue's as well and climbed out of the pool.

"We should get back to camp."

A/N: Sorry it took so darn long. I tried to make the chapter a little longer to make up for that. Reviews are fun for everyone. Yeah, there's a reason I don't do poetry...