I am so, so, so, so, so, SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Life got real hectic all of the sudden. You know how these things go. I'll try to write more often. ((Also, it's chappie 13, aka BAD LUCK! So if it sucks, I blame fate. Lol))

This chappie is dedicated to Cajun Charmer. Thanks for the penguin!

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"Get in!" Scott yelled, pulling up to the front door in his red convertible. Not having to be told twice, Kurt squeezed in between Rogue and Remy and Kitty sat down in the front middle by Jean and Scott.

"No offense, Scott, but New Jersey's a big place. How are we gonna like find them?" Kitty asked. Scott nodded toward Jean who smiled and tapped her head. "Oh... Right. Stupid question."

After a few minutes of silence, Kurt started to feel very uncomfortable. Sitting in between his sister and her boyfriend was probably not one of his better ideas. He looked at Rogue, who continued to stare out the side, then at Gambit, who continued to stare at her. Shaking his head, he poked Kitty in the back of the head.

"Music." He requested.

Nodding, Kitty clicked on the radio and tuned it to a pop music channel.

-

"Hey, Wa-" Todd started to greet as the Scarlet Witch passed him in the hall. He had to stop, though, when she suddenly covered his mouth with hers in a kiss. Before he could come out of his shock and respond, she pulled back and look at him.

"What was that for, yo?" Todd asked, utterly bewildered.

"I've been thinking about what you said, about the taking risks thing." Wanda replied. "At first I was upset that you would question my judgment to that extent, but the more I thought about it, the sillier my argument seemed. It wasn't just that either. I did a lot of thinking about a lot of things, actually..." She added, trailing a finger down his shirt.

"Like what?" He asked, gulping. Being this close to Wanda could not be good for his blood-pressure.

"Us." She replied.

His jaw hit the floor. Forget his blood-pressure, he was going to need CPR in a minute if his lungs didn't react soon.

"What?!" he exclaimed when he could speak again.

"Well, when I'm completely honest with myself, I think there might actually be something there." Wanda said. "I have feelings for you, Todd, and I think the whole world knows you want to be with me..." She smiled. "So, how about it? I'm loud; I'm mean; I have serious issues with my dad; and I probably should be in anger management... Are you willing to take a risk with this girl?"

Toad, himself, was at a complete loss for words. Wanda was saying she liked him, something he had dreamed abut for a very long time now, and all he could do was open and close his mouth like a fish! So instead of talking, he wrapped his arms around her, in what could probably be described as the boldest thing he'd ever done, and kissed her with everything he had.

-

"You know, I'm actually starting to get a little worried..." Tabby stated. "It's been a long time and no one has found us yet."

Pietro sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Something shiny caught his eye. "Hey-Boom-Boom?"

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Do-you-think-you-could-fit-through-that-vent?" He asked, motioning upward.

She looked up and thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so. But I'd need a boost to get up there. Let me stand on your shoulders."

Nodding, Pietro got up and she climbed onto his shoulders. She stood up and accidentally kicked him in the head.

"Ow!" Pietro groaned, rubbing his now sore head.

"Okay, maybe there's not enough room to do this in here..." she replied, mentally measuring the air vent.

"Damn.-I-thought-that-would-work-for-sure!" he exclaimed, disappointed.

"Oh well... I'm sure the others are looking for us..."

-

"Got any threes?" Alex asked, bored.

"Go fish." X23 replied in a similar tone.

-

"Bobby, get up." Jubilee said, shaking him.

"Uhg..." Bobby moaned, sitting up and immediately grabbing his head in pain. "What time is it?"

"I don't know, but all of the people who work here have already gone home." She replied.

"I think we'd better go back upstairs really soon." Amara stated.

"Yeah, they're probably worried sick about us." Ray added.

"Yeah." Bobby agreed, leading the way back up.

-

"What is this?" Jamie wondered, turning the paper in his hands different direction, trying to see if it made any more sense upside down.

Rahne looked over his shoulder. "It looks like a complicated science... thing..."

"I wonder who it belongs to...?" he said.

"It says 'Professor D. S. J. Petros'..." she replied.

"Weird..." Jamie stated, putting it back into the folder he found it in and setting it back on the kitchen table.

-

"That was an excellent meal." Warren stated as he and Betsy came out of the restaurant.

The lavender-haired girl nodded in agreement. "There's nothing like that in New York."

"That's for sure." He replied. "Where to now, Beautiful?"

"We could go to the theater." She responded.

"All right then," he opened her car door for her, "Off we go."

-

"I'm bored." Alex stated.

X23 nodded, silently agreeing with him.

"What should we do?" he wondered.

"I don't know." She replied.

"We could go to the mall." Alex suggested.

"Why?" X23 asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Do you have any better ideas?"

"We could..." she trailed off. "I don't know."

"Where are the kids?" Alex wondered.

"Wolfsbane and Multiple?" X23 replied. "Not sure. They turned in their sleeves and took off. I haven't seen Quicksilver or Boom-Boom in a while either..."

"Weird..."

-

"Why would they do something this stupid?!" Scott suddenly asked out of the blue.

The entire car had been quiet, with the exception of the radio, for about forty-five minutes now. Everyone else sighed inwardly, happy that Cyclops had been the one to break the silence and not them.

"I don't know, Scott." Jean replied calmly.

"Did they say anything before they left to any of you that might have given you a clue?" Scott wondered.

"No, they like just got together." Kitty answered. "Something must have happened for them to decide this."

"Maybe zey wanted to get married before her parents forbid it?" Kurt offered.

"I don't know..." Jean said, clearly deep in thought. "I didn't sense any sort of nervousness from them. They didn't seem troubled at all."

"This is so weird..." Rogue muttered.

-

"Where is everyone?" A female voice echoed throughout the hall.

Wanda and Todd pulled apart and dove into a near-by closet in surprise.

"Don't shut the-!" The door closed. "...door..."

Tabby and Pietro sat back and sighed.

"It only opens from the outside." Pietro stated slowly.

Wanda turned to Todd and glared. "Why did you lock us in here?"

"I didn't, yo! You were the one who pushed us in here!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Shut up!" Tabitha yelled. They stopped. "Thank you."

"What are you two doing in here, anyway?" Pietro asked. Spending the last few hours in the closet seemed to have slowed him down quite a bit.

Toad and the Scarlet Witch blushed.

"N-nothing." Todd stammered.

Tabby's face lit up. "No way!" She giggled.

"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter," Wanda rolled her eyes. "One of those X-geeks startled us and we tried to hide."

"How did you two get in here?" Todd wondered.

Pietro sighed. "Kitty scared us and we ducked for cover."

"Are you okay?" Wanda asked, worried about her brother. He hadn't spoken like that in 10 years and it was starting to really scare her.

"No! I'm am NOT okay!" her twin yelled. "I have been stuck in this stupid closet for who knows how many hours with that!" He added, pointing to Boom-Boom.

"Hey!" the blonde exclaimed. "At least you haven't been stuck with a self-absorbed, hyperactive, jack ass who can't seem to see a good thing when it's right in front of him!" She crossed her arms and turned away from him.

After a very quiet moment, Pietro sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that, Tabby." Nothing.

"Tabby?" Silence.

"Tabby?!" Still nothing.

"Oh, come on!" He said, putting his arm around her.

She shrugged him off and turned to Wanda. "Tell your idiot brother that I don't want to talk to him ever again."

"I heard her." Pietro snapped, when Wanda started to open her mouth.

"Hey, don't take it out on Wanda!" Todd yelled.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Pietro growled.

Wanda smacked her brother in the head. "Don't take that tone of voice on him!"

"Why do you care?" he asked.

"Because he's twice the man you'll ever be!" She replied, angrily, turning away from him, too.

"Wanda? Come on, now. Don't tell me you've stop speaking to me, too." Pietro rolled his eyes. After she didn't respond for a few minutes, Pietro glared at Todd. "This is all your fault."

-

"Reruns!" Pyro exclaimed. "Every stinking channel is playing reruns!"

Colossus shook his head. He, personally, didn't care too much for TV.

"I am so bored!" John complained. Then, something caught his eye. "Ooo... Shiny..." He picked up the chrome telephone and put it to his ear. He hit speed dial #8 and waited to see where it called...

-

Rogue came out of the gas station, eating her candy bar. As she approached Scott's car, she took in what everyone was doing. Scott was filling the tank, Jean was studying the map, Kurt and Kitty were laughing about something, and Remy was... just leaning against the outside of the car...

"What are ya doing, Cajun?" she asked, coming up next to him.

He smiled, looking at her. "Me, chere? Nothing."

"Oh, like Ah believe that." She rolled her eyes.

"Remy bought you somethin'." He stated.

She looked at him, suspiciously. "As in, you actually paid for it?"

"Got the receipt right here if ya wanna see it." He said, patting his pocket.

She shook her head. "That's okay. What'd ya buy me?"

"Close your eyes and hold out your hands." He replied.

"Alright, but nothin' tricky, ya hear me?"

As soon as she had closed her eyes, she felt something soft get put into her hands. Opening them again, she saw a small stuffed penguin.

She rolled her eyes and put the penguin in her pocket, getting into her seat in the car as Scott got ready to drive off. As soon as Gambit was buckled and looking out the other window, Rogue took the penguin back out and laughed quietly to herself.

'Trevor.' She decided, naming the stuffed animal and tucking it away safely into her purse.

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

"Hey, Jamie..."

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Where are Stephie, Georgie, and Carl...?"

"Uh, oh..."

A little bit shorter than most chappies, but at least I updated, right?