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During the next few days, Rogue spent much of her time either with Ororo, or sitting alone beside the pond. The peaceful setting there helped her to concentrate on figuring out how much of her was other people, and how much was the original Marie.

Rogue's meditations usually took the form of mental conversations with her "inmates." While to any average observer, Rogue was simply sitting beside the pond lost in thought, any telepathic observer would have been able to see and hear what was really going on.

Rogue would keep her eyes closed to start, and then, once she was in contact with her mental personalities, she would open them and use the scene of the peaceful pond to keep her centred.

Logan was usually the first one she talked to, because he was good for her ego, and for helping keep the other personalities in line. He was looking a bit singed these days, because Pyro didn't like him.

"Hey Wolvie," Rogue greeted him as she approached his room. With Jean's help last year, she had created some mental "space" for both him and Magneto, and also for David. Logan lived in her mental equivalent of his room at Xavier's mansion, while David was always to be found in her old room at her parents' house in Mississippi. Magneto was eternally imprisoned in the torch of Lady Liberty.

"Hey, kid," Wolverine said, looking up from where he was sprawled lazily on his bed, reading.

"How's the new kid?" she asked him.

"Don't you mean new kids? Plural? Did you forget about Blurry Bobby?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When that icey-pop kissed you, a little of him ended up in here too. It wasn't much, though, so he's always a bit blurry around the edges even when he does show up. You know, you really gotta be more careful, kid."

"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting him to kiss me, Wolvie! It was his idea, not mine! And besides, he said he wouldn't get hurt."

Wolverine snorted.

"What?" Rogue demanded.

"Haven't you learned by now not to believe horny teenage boys? They'll say anything to get some touch, darlin'."

Rogue rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject. "What about John? How's he doing?"

Wolverine shrugged. "He ain't so bad as long as I keep kickin' his ass every second. Otherwise he gets outta hand."

"Oh, so you must've been napping the other day when I nearly set the kitchen on fire," Rogue teased.

"Yeah, uh, sorry 'bout that, kid," Wolverine looked abashed. "I was catchin' up with Erik right then."

"Oh, so you're best pals with old 'Bucket-head' now?" Rogue teased.

Wolverine laughed and explained that he had merely been consulting with Magneto on the best way to keep Pyro from driving Rogue insane.

"Uh, yeah… about that…" Rogue said. "You ought to know I'm looking into some ways to kick them out altogether. I might not be able to keep you here, either. Are you mad?"

Wolverine considered this for a long moment and shrugged. "Nah. You should do whatever makes you healthy. And anyway, you'll probably get hurt again, and Logan'll be around, so I'll probably just end up right back here again." He winked at her.

"Oh, so you expect me to get hurt again? Nice to know what kind of faith you have in me," Rogue teased.

Wolverine lost his smile and looked at her very seriously. "Darlin', I got all kinds of faith in you. You know that. I know you won't let this new jerk push you over the edge." He smirked and continued, "If you can survive old Buckethead, you can survive another coupla teenyboppers."

Rogue grinned. "Yeah, but it wasn't Old Buckethead that had me pinching Jean's ass for a week!" She instantly sobered, remembering that Jean was no longer alive.

Wolverine knew the fact of Jean's death, of course, but with his being a sort of snapshot from a year ago, the fact didn't really register with him. He still spoke of her in the present tense. "Hey!" he defended, "It's a great ass!" He grinned lasciviously. "Not like yours, though, baby. Hey, next time you shower, you want to back up to the mirror so we can get a good look? You haven't done that in a while. We've all missed it."

Rogue rolled her eyes and bid him a pointed, "Goodbye, Wolvie!" His laugh followed her out the door.

Next stop, Magneto. Rogue flew up to the top of the torch and opened the door. "Hello, Erik," she said.

"Ah, good afternoon, my dear," he greeted cordially. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Just thought I'd ask you about the new guys."

"Well, the Wolverine told me about Iceman's presence, or I would never have known. He has certainly never come up here. Pyro, on the other hand appears to be causing quite a stir. I've had several chats with him, and I can hear him fighting with your hairy champion on an hourly basis, even from way up here."

"Yes, Wolvie says he's trying to keep him in line. Did you hear about what happened in the kitchen, though?"

Erik said he hadn't, so Rogue filled him in, about Pyro and the stockpot. He started to laugh, and she couldn't help but join in. It wasn't funny at the time, but now, picturing the expression on Storm's face, she couldn't keep the giggles from bubbling out. She couldn't help it; she liked Erik. To her, the Erik trapped in her head was far different from the powerful and politically driven madman known as Magneto. Erik was suave and polite, and had a wicked sense of humour. Not only that, but he had graciously accepted his confinement as "just," in return for her having to put up with his memories and nightmares. No, her mental Magneto never gave her any trouble, and was always good for a game of chess and some clever conversation.

"So he hasn't been up here bothering you much?" she asked. Erik shook his head. "Good," she said. "Um, listen, Erik – I'm working on something that might allow me to clean out my head – and if that's successful, then you might have to leave along with Pyro and the others. Is that all right?"

Erik looked surprised. "My dear Rogue," he said. "This is your mind, after all. You have every right to decide who gets to stay here!"

Rogue smiled and thanked him. He returned her smile and invited her to a game of chess sometime. "You may not believe me, my dear," he said as she was leaving, "But I enjoy our little chats."

"So do I. Thank you, Erik."

Next stop was Mental-Meridian, Mississippi. She opened the door of her room and found David poking idly through her underwear drawer. "David!"

He looked up and shrugged, grinning. "Well, I don't have anything better to do!"

"Every time I come in here, I always catch you doing something perverted!" Rogue shook her head.

David shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a perpetually horny kid who's going to be 17 forever. AND I'm locked into the room of a beautiful teenage girl who never comes to see me anymore!"

Rogue gave in and smiled. "Come on, you know you can see me in the mirror every time I look. And I'm not exactly a teenager anymore."

"I know, I know. Why'd you have to go around touching dirty old men, anyway? Erik's not so bad, but that Wolverine's a real lech!"

Rogue lifted her eyebrows. "David, honey, I hate to tell you, but Wolvie isn't the one I found rooting around in my underwear drawer!"

Unrepentant, David shot her a grin. "That's only 'cause you locked him into his own room and not yours! Trust me, I'm right on this!"

Rogue conceded he had a point. Then she asked about Pyro. David told her that Pyro wasn't too bad – he had mostly left him alone. "That Bobby kid, though… where on earth did ya dig him up?"

Rogue looked puzzled. "What about Bobby?"

"Well, he comes in here all the time, lookin' like a ghost, and if you think I'm the pervert, you oughtta see him. Not to mention the fact he's all possessive of you. I mean, I know you and I were only together for a couple of weeks and it ended badly – but hey, this Bobby kid's nearly had a fight with me over the fact that I was your first kiss! I mean, I know my place around here. He doesn't. Marie, you gotta do something about him!"

"I think you're the only one he's visited, David. The others are mostly bothered by John." Rogue was puzzled. She hadn't even been aware of Bobby's presence in her mind at all after their kiss. She guessed his ghostlike quality was due to the fact that their kiss had been so short that she had just barely started to feel the pull before Bobby had staggered back and broken it. She sat down on the edge of her bed and told David all about the past few days. She ended by saying, "So if Bobby or John ever give you a hard time, you just go tell Wolvie and he'll take care of it if I'm busy. Okay?"

David agreed, and Rogue took her leave. She took a deep breath before going to see Pyro himself.

She hadn't yet created a mental containment facility for Pyro, and she was a little afraid of what she might find. She simply headed toward the flickering light and found him torching Xavier's mansion. Her jaw dropped. John had gone into her memories and daily impressions of Xavier's mansion and was burning them all to the ground. She ran forward. "John! John!"

Pyro turned and grinned at her before shooting a fireball at her. Rogue screamed and ducked; the fireball passed so close over her that she could feel it singe the hair on top of her head. Pyro laughed and called, "What's the matter, Rogue? Can't take the heat?"

Suddenly there was a roar, and John was tackled from the side. Rogue got shakily to her feet and looked over fearfully.

Wolverine threw Pyro across the room. Pyro smashed right into the big mirror and jumped to his feet amid the shattered glass. He sent a fireball Wolverine's way, but Wolverine dove through it unharmed. He bowled Pyro over again. Pyro got up and Wolverine popped out his claws. Pyro threw another fireball toward him, but once again Wolverine ignored it. He leaped through it and plunged his claws deep into Pyro's chest.

Pyro fell. Wolverine backed off, panting, and glanced at Rogue. "We don't have long, kid," he said. "You should get out of here."

"Why can't he hurt you with the flames?"

"I know they're imaginary. To you they still look real, so they can hurt you. You should get out of here, darlin', and let me get back to my thrashin'. He'll be up again in a sec."

Rogue aghast, asked, "Is this how it's been?"

Wolverine nodded. "Mostly. Don't worry, baby; I've got an infinite capacity for ass-kickin'!" He grinned toothily at her.

Rogue couldn't help herself. Running over to him, she planted a quick but heartfelt kiss on his lips before she ran out again.

"Huh." Wolverine was puzzled, but charmed. "What'd she do that for?"

"It should've been me," Bobby declared angrily, popping up suddenly in all his ethereal glory. "I'm the one she should be kissing!"

He got a glare, but that was all. Wolverine was busy watching Pyro for any hint of movement.

"Bobby, come on," David was there too, tugging at Bobby's semi-intangible sleeve. "Let's leave Wolvie alone, huh? He's got work to do."

"Yeah, kid, get him out of here," Wolverine said to David, without taking his eyes off Pyro. John was starting to stir again.

"Wakey, wakey," Wolverine told him gleefully. "Ready for round… uh, what is this now, round seven hundred and three?"

Pyro opened his eyes and sent another burst of flame at Wolverine.

Wolverine tsked at him as the flames billowed harmlessly past him. "And here I thought you were a smart kid. Still haven't figured out ya can't hurt me that way. You're just a young hothead, ain'tcha?"

"Rogue! Rogue!" Rogue lifted her head from Wolverine's pillow, listening. She had fled to his room for safety, but now she heard someone calling her from outside the mansion it sounded like. A smile crept across her face; she knew how to do this! Rising, she ran down the stairs and out the door. Tiptoeing down to the pond, she sat down on the bench in her usual meditation spot. She knew her body had been there the whole time, but she had only recently learned how to return to it when she wanted to.

"Rogue?" Ororo said, tapping her lightly on the shoulder.

Rogue blinked and looked up. "Oh, hi, 'Roro. I was…busy," she explained. Remembering Pyro's actions during her dream-state, she glanced anxiously toward the mansion. Good. No scorch marks. It had looked so real, but had actually taken place all in her head.

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