Tad bit of AleX23 fluff in this one, along with the continued dates of Romy and Kurtty. Also, Jean's parents are still here. Enjoy!

This chappie is dedicated to Lil Jean, who doesn't always sign in, but always reviews.

--

"Okay, so we need to get a few things before we can recruit any more people." Alex started. "For one thing, we're out of fruit for the fruit baskets." Everyone else just nodded for him to go on. "So, Sister X23, you and Sister Tabby go to the store and get some more supplies. Brother Jamie and Sister Rahne, since you two are the most innocent and most people in the mansion trust you, go scout the grounds and see if you can find any potential new members."

"Can we take Sister Stephie?" Rahne asked.

"You'd better not." The blonde boy answered. "It would attract to much attention. Anyway, we need Sister Stephie and Brothers Carl and Georgie to watch the base."

"Right." Wolfsbane and Multiple nodded and left the room.

"Brother Pietro, go act natural and blend in so no one suspects anything."

"Right." The speed demon left.

X23 and Tabitha left the room after him, shutting the door.

Alex turned to the three animals still left in the room with him. "I'm gonna go get a slushie. Watch the base. Later dudes!"

-

Remy bowed as their 'song' came to an end.

Rogue laughed. "What am Ah goin' to do with you, Cajun?"

He smiled and held out his hand. "Shall we continue home, den?"

She looked at him for a minute and an idea struck her. "No."

"No?" Gambit asked, surprised.

"No, Ah wanna show ya somethin'." She explained, taking his hand and starting to walk.

-

"Are we gonna tell anyone about this place?" Jubilee asked after the three had made reservations for the next day.

"Sure, why not? It's not like it's a bar or anything." Bobby replied.

"The bar's through that door." The lady at the desk said. "I could call and have Alphonse get you something if you'd like."

"You'd serve alcohol to a bunch of minors?" Amara asked, disbelievingly.

"Are you paying us?" the lady responded. The kids nodded. "Then I won't tell if you won't." She winked.

The group waved good bye to the receptionist.

"Still wanna tell everyone else?" Jubilee wondered as they came to the elevator.

"No!" the three others said together.

-

Rahne and Jamie came into the living room where Scott, Jean, and her parents were playing Scruples™.

"Did you two need something?" Jean asked as they sat down by her.

Jamie shook his head. "No."

"Okay..." Jean picked up a card and read it. "Okay, for Scott. 'You went to bar last night and woke up in bed with a person you don't know. Do you tell your significant other?'"

"Of course. My significant other is a telepath. She'd find out any way." Scott said, throwing his arm around her shoulder.

"And...?" Jean prodded, having got the points, but not quite happy with his answer.

"And I'd never get too drunk to remember that I'm already in a relationship." He laughed, knowing that's what she wanted him to say.

"Good boy." She replied, putting the card down.

"Say, Scott?" Rahne asked. "What do you think of Georgie, Stephie, and Carl?"

-Who?- Scott asked Jean through their link.

-The animals- she replied.

"Well, they'd be fine if they were anywhere but the mansion." He answered.

"Oh. Jean, same question."

"Same answer." Jean replied. "Sorry, guys, but a house is no place for them. The should be in a zoo or the wild where they can be happy."

"Okay." Jamie sighed, the two getting up and leaving the room.

"Strange children." Elaine Grey stated once they were out of ear shot.

-

"This is like so much easier than a normal date, isn't it?" Kitty asked as she laid on the grass, looking up at the sky.

"Zat's probably because ve already know everything about each other." he replied, turning his head to look at her. "Unless, of course, you're hiding things." He added, jokingly.

She laughed. "No, you pretty much know everything."

"Good." He said, standing and holding out his hand to help her up.

She took it and he pulled her to her feet. The brown-haired girl leaned in closer to him and pressed her lips against. He put his arms around her waist and she put hers around her neck, leaning into the kiss more.

When the two finally broke apart, Kitty smiled. "Thank you, Kurt. I had a lot of fun tonight." She started back to the car.

Kurt smiled goofily and walked after her.

-

"Nobody else is home, I guess..." Jamie said.

Rahne looked unsure, but shrugged, anyway. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a book.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Professor's phone book. We c'n call and ask people." She explained.

"Ok."

-

"Gambit thought you said we weren't going home jus' yet?" he asked as the came up to the front gate of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters.

"We aren't." Rogue said, putting in her access code.

"Welcome back, Rogue." The computer chimed, unlocking the gate.

The walked through it.

"Dis looks like home to Gambit..." he muttered.

"Just come on, Swamp Rat." She said, taking his hand and pulling him behind her, down a path that led away from the house, but was still inside the fence.

-

"Hi, is there a Mr. Warren Worthington III at this number?" Jamie asked the phone. "Oh, hello. My name is Jamie Madrox from the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. How are you today? I'm fine, thank you. Can I ask you a few questions?" Pause. "No." Pause. "Okay, first of all, how do you feel about elephants? Good. Now, how do you feel about giraffes? Good. How about zebras? Oh, that's too bad. I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you for your time."

"Doesn't like zebras?" Rahne asked.

Jamie nodded and went to the next number. "Aren't these normally in ABC order?"

Rahne shrugged and motion for her boyfriend to dial the next number.

Before he could, though, the phone rang. He picked it up. "Hello?" pause. "Hi, Professor! No, Scott and Jean are busy right now, but you can talk to me and Rahne." Pause. "Everything's fine here. Yeah. Yeah. No. I guess. Okay. Bye." He hung up.

-

"How is everything?" Hank asked from his chair by the pool.

Professor Xavier shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Jamie answered the phone and said Scott and Jean were too busy to come to the phone."

Ororo and Logan looked at each other. "Did he say why...?" Ororo wondered.

"No."

Raven, who was currently in the pool, laughed. "Ororo, you really don't think things through before you speak, do you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, two teenagers, who just happen to be a couple, are too busy to come to the phone and you wonder what they're doing?" the blue woman explained.

"Are we still talkin' 'bout Jeannie and Cyke?" Logan wondered, handing Ororo a drink he had mixed. "The two of them are practically perfect angels. We haven't had to yell at them once since Kurt arrived at the mansion."

Raven shrugged. "I may not be there very often, but at least I'm not naive as to what goes on at the boarding house." She turned to Erik, who was sitting at the steps of the pool. "Especially with that son of yours."

Magneto shrugged. "Pietro is old enough to make his own decisions."

"Would you act that way if it was your daughter, not your son?" Irene wondered from her chair next to Hank's.

"Why? Did you hear something?" Erik asked, sounding like he was going to kick someone's ass.

Irene laughed and shook her head.

-

"Hello, is there a John Allerdyce there?" Jamie asked the phone. "Hi. My name is James Madrox and I'm from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Can I ask you some questions?" Pause. "Hold on." He covered the mouth piece and turned to his girlfriend. "Are we with the INS?"

Rahne shook her head.

"No." he said into the phone. "Okay, great. How do you feel about giraffes...?"

-

Wanda opened the door to her room. At the same time, she noticed, another door was opening in the same hall.

"Hey, Wanda!" Toad greeted, happily, as he shut his door and stepped into the hall.

"Not now, Todd." she said, walking past him.

"Where ya going?" he asked, following her.

"No where." she replied.

"Then why are ya wearing your coat?" he wondered.

"Because I like it."

"Where are you really going?" he asked.

"To the book store. I didn't get my book yet." She replied, sighing.

"Can I come?" Todd asked.

She stopped and turned to face him. "No."

"Why?"

"Because last time you followed me," Wanda started, "you got hurt."

Toad looked at her, confused. "So, what, I'm not allowed outside anymore, yo?"

Wanda shook her head. "No."

"You can't do that!" he challenged.

"Are you arguing with me?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Todd answered, nodding.

She looked at him for a minute, then took a step forward. He stepped back, so she grabbed him and pulled him so that he was about an inch away from her.

"Wanda? What are you-"

She cut him off by covering his mouth with hers and kissing him.

"Now," she said when she pulled away. "Are you going to stay put?" He nodded, obviously still in shock. "Good. Now, go brush your teeth." Wanda commanded, walking down the stairs. "I'm going out!" She called, going out the door.

"What-the-heck-was-that?" Pietro asked, coming around the corner, having seen the whole thing.

"I don't know..." Todd answered in a faraway voice. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth now, Billy..." He said, walking down the hall.

"Who-the-heck's-Billy?" Pietro wondered to himself.

-

"Here we are." Rogue stated as they came up to a random wall, about 100 feet long and 1 foot thick, in the middle of a field.

"Did you do all dis?" Remy wondered, looking at it. It was covered with beautiful artwork.

Rogue nodded. "It's of all of us. Everyone in the mansion is on it at least once."

"Wow." He stated, going up to it to get a closer look. He touched a picture of himself. It was all very beautifully done. In fact, it was probably one of the best murals he'd ever seen. "Dis is really nice. You have a talent, cher."

"Ah don't know about that." She stated, running her hand across a picture of her and Kurt. "Ah just did it because it made me feel better."

He walked around the other side. There was a picture of him, again, sitting on top of a train.

Rogue followed him and laughed, seeing what he was looking at. "Guess when Ah did that."

Gambit laughed, too, knowing she meant when he had kidnapped her.

Rogue yawned. "Maybe we should head back to the house."

Remy nodded and put arm around her shoulder, leading her up the trail.

-

Kurt and Kitty came back into the mansion and looked around.

"Hello?" Kitty called. "We're home!"

"Okay!" Scott's voice replied from the living room.

"So..." Kitty started. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

Kurt smiled. "I take it I get a second date, then."

Kitty laughed. "Definitely." She kissed him on the cheek. "I guess I'll like talk to you tomorrow. Good night, Kurt."

When she had disappeared up the stairs, Kurt grinned broadly. "All of this happiness is making me hungry." He glanced at his watch. "Just in time for a midnight snack."

He popped into the kitchen and found Sam already there.

"Hey." The blonde boy greeted, looking up from his ice cream sundae.

"Hello." Kurt replied, going to the frig. "How was your date?"

"Great. We went to Dessert Palace." Sam said. "How was yours?"

"Wonderful." Kurt responded, sitting down. "Kitty's really special."

-

Rahne and Jamie went into Alex's room.

"Finished, boss." Jamie stated.

Alex nodded. "Have you two seen X23?"

"No." Rahne replied. "When did she get back from the store?"

"That's the problem. She didn't come back." Alex said, sounding very worried.

"I'm sure she's fine." Rahne stated. "She's pretty tough." Jamie nodded in agreement.

"I hope so..."

-

Jean yawned and laid her head on Scott's shoulder. Their game had long-since ended and now Scott and her dad were talking about basketball or baseball or something Jean didn't care about.

"Jean, Hunny, maybe you should go to bed?" Scott suggested, interrupting the conversation he had been in.

Jean shook her head. "No..."

Scott smiled. "Go to bed, Jean."

"I'm not tired." She stated, snuggling into him more.

Scott chuckled and went back to his conversation.

After a few minutes, Jean was fast asleep on his shoulder.

"I'll be right back." Scott stated to her parents. "Come on, Beautiful." He said, scooping her up into his arms. "Bed time."

She put her arms around his neck and let him carry her to her room.

-

"Hello?" Alex said, answering the phone. He suddenly sighed in relief. "Where are you?! I've been so worried about you!" Pause. "Um... say that again... What?! Okay, okay. Calm down, Three. We'll come get you guys."

"Come on, dudes, we gotta go!" Alex announced, going from the room.

"What happened? Are they alright?" Rahne asked, following the older boy.

"Scottie!" Alex said, catching sight of his older brother coming out of Jean's room.

"What's up?" Scott asked, shutting her door behind him.

"Tabby was playing pranks with her powers at the store and now her and X23 are in jail. We gotta go bail them out, bro!" The blonde replied, pulling on his sibling.

"Whoa! Calm down, Alex." Scott responded. "Jamie, Rahne, go get in the car if you're coming. I've got to go say good night to Jean's parents. Alex, put your shoes on."

"Right! Shoes!" Alex said, racing away.

Scott went downstairs and back into the living room.

"Dr. and Mrs. Grey?" he started. The two looked at him form their couch. "I have to go take care of a small emergency. I'll see you two in the morning, okay?"

"What happened?" Elaine wondered.

"Is everyone alright?" John asked.

"A couple of our students apparently got picked up by the police. Everyone's fine, for now." The leader of the X-Men replied.

The Greys said good night and he went to the garage.

-

Rogue put her head on Gambit's shoulder.

"If you had to pick anywhere in the world to be right now, where would it be?" She asked.

"Easy." He answered. "Right here, with you."

"Do you have an answer ready for every occasion?" Rogue wondered, a note of irritation in her voice.

"It's the truth, cher." Remy replied. "Gambit is exactly where he wants to be right now."

"Here we are." She said as the came up to the front door.

"So...?" Gambit started.

"What?" she wondered.

"Are we a couple?" he asked.

Rogue smiled. "Yeah, Remy. I think we are."

-

"All right." The man at the police station said. "I guess everything checks out." He went to the back. Within a few minutes, X23 and Tabby came out the door.

Immediately, Alex grabbed X23 and spun her around. He stopped and hugged her to him.

"You had me so worried, Three." He stated. "Don't ever do that again. I don't knwo what I'd so if I lost you. I love you so much."

X23 froze and looked up at him. "What did you just say?"

Alex laughed, realizing what he had said. "I love you, X23."

She smiled. "I love you, too." She leaned up and kissed him.

"Aw..." Tabitha and Rahne cooed. The two broke apart and blushed. Jamie laughed.

Scott sighed. "Let's just go home."

--

Next time on 'Of Second Shots and Summer Plots':

"Warren!" Jean exclaimed, opening the door and letting the winged mutant inside. "Scott! Warren's here!"

Scott came into the room. "Hey. What are you doing here? And who is this?" he asked, motioning to a lavender-haired woman behind Angel.

So, what did you think? Love it? Hate it? I gotta know!