author's notes: whoohoo! Another chapter over and done with! Sorry for the delay (again) but ive spent most of this time working, and watching new stargate & startrek dvds I got! (shuddup! I know im a nerd!) well don't 4get to review.. ive wanted some jean bashing for quite some time now.. please.. don't feel sorry for her.. well.. maybe just a little..

Ch14: Jean bashing

Remy finally rolled up to the large iron gates of the X-mansion. He was glad to be back, and he couldn't wait to see if there'd be any chance of Rogue switching back into her own body. He turned to his left and looked at the mini Tv and keypad, sticking out from the brick wall. He typed in his pin code and waited for the iron gates to open. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. After mumbling some profanity in French, Remy pressed the red button on the side of the keypad. After a minute, the mini Tv screen lit up and the Professor's face appeared.

"Remy, welcome back," The professor smiled. "I didn't expect you back so soon."

"Hello Professor. Remy didn't get th' memo 'bout new pin codes."

"Sorry, Remy. We found out that somehow Mystique had entered the mansion on several occasions, so we had to change all our codes. Because you were away, I figured that I'd give you your new code on your arrival. I'll let you in. We can talk inside."

The iron gates opened and Remy rode up the driveway, anxious to see Rogue.

Scott looked down at Jean, who was still on the floor crying. Normally, he would have bent down and hugged her, soothed her. But he couldn't. She had no sleeves covering her arms, and his weren't either. Looking at her cry only made him more pissed off. He couldn't touch her because of something she did. But that wasn't the real reason why he was pissed off. He was mad at himself for making Jean cry.

He opened his mouth to say something to comfort Jean, but he quickly closed his mouth. There was nothing more to say. It had all been said. What was there left to say? Nothing. Scott turned and left the Danger room, leaving Jean all alone. Just like before he entered the danger room, he didn't know what to do with himself. He had been wanting to say something to Jean for so long, and now that he did finally get through to her, he didn't feel any happier. By pure habit, Scott headed straight to his bedroom.
He was so deep in thought, he nearly bumped into Kurt who was standing in the hallway.

"Why you so down, Scott?" Kurt asked.

"Ah, it's nothing really," Scott replied. He wasn't in the mood to talk. Scott remembered that Amanda was at the mansion, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Did Amanda go home?"

Kurt shook his head. "Nein. She accidentally spilt her soda on her top. I gave her one of mein tops to put on. She's in mein room getting changed," Kurt explained.

Scott let out a small smile, and playfully smacked Kurt on the side of the arm. "You're such a gentleman, Kurt. Waiting outside the room for your lady."

Kurt looked away and blushed. It's hard to notice when Kurt's blushing, but Scott could see a touch of purple tinge on Kurt's cheeks. Scott told Kurt he was tired, before heading off to his room.

'This is all too much,' Scott said to himself. He lay on his bed and tried to think of something other than Jean. Suddenly, his mobile phone rang. Scott rolled over and tilted the mobile to check the screen. It flashed the last name he wanted to see.

Taryn

Scott pressed the 'reject call' button and rolled back over.

Within seconds, the phone rang again. This time, after rejecting the call, Scott turned off his mobile.

Jean watched as Scott left the Danger room. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Scott had never talked to her that way before! He was so brutally.. honest! She couldn't comprehend that Scott was so mad at her. She finally understood now why he was going out with Taryn, and how he really felt about herself.

She composed herself, so that she didn't look too dishevelled, before getting up to leave the Danger room. As soon as the doors swung open, Jean saw Rogue coming down the hallway.

"Hank asked me tah check up on yah," Rogue explained. She instantly saw Jean's red eyes, and cheeks stained with tears. "Oh mah God, Jean," Rogue said a little too loudly. "Ah didn't yell at yah that much!" Rogue complained, thinking her argument was the cause of Jean's tears.

Jean quickly wiped her cheeks. "No, no. It wasn't you," She explained. "Scott and I just had an argument in the Danger room," She said.

Rogue crossed her arms. She knew Scott was pissed at Jean. She could sense it whenever he was around. "What about," Rogue asked innocently.

"He said he's going out with Taryn because of me," Jean mumbled. She held back her tears, which were welling up again.

"What do you mean?" Rogue asked. She didn't fully understand what Jean meant, just like when Jean didn't understand Scott's explanation at first.

"Because of the switch. He said he couldn't wait for me while I had your powers," Jean explained.

Rogue became mad. She knew that she and Scott never progressed past the flirtatious stage because of her powers. But to hear it from Jean, who heard it from Scott, made her mad. She got over Scott a long time ago, but it still hurt her that he couldn't see past her powers. She was glad that Remy saw her differently.

"Well, ah know ah didn't ask for mah powers. But last ah checked, you took them on willingly," Rogue replied in her usual grumpy voice.

"Yeah, I remember," Jean replied. She let out a sigh. "I thought I was doing you a favour."

Rogue glared. "A favour! You call this ah favour?! Ah told yah ah didn't want this! But yah didn't listen! Thanks, Jean, but no thanks! Did yah see the way Remy looked at me when ah started tah look like you! He looked like someone died!" Rogue yelled.

"Chere?"

The girls turned their heads to look down the hallway. Remy stood there with the professor by his side. Rogue let out a little smile. Remy smiled, but it was obvious to everyone that he was disappointed that Rogue still looked like a gothic version of Jean. And Rogue could also read his thoughts, which only angered her more.

"That look I was talking about," Rogue continued. She pointed to Remy. "Looked just like that!" Rogue yelled before stomping off in the opposite direction to everyone else.

"Chere!" Remy called out. He ran past Jean and followed Rogue down the hallway that led to Hank's lab.

Jean wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to breakdown and cry, but not here, in front of the professor. She took a step in the same direction that Rogue went, but was stopped by the Professor.

"Jean." He said. "Do you want to talk?" Heasked compassionately. She knew he could sense her sadness, but she wasn't in the mood to talk. She brang up her own mental shields and pushed out the professor. Jean didn't even need to reply out loud.

The Professor nodded. "I'll be here if you change your mind," he replied. He gave Jean a small smile and turned around.

Now alone, Jean dropped to her knees and cried. "This is all my fault."

Mystique, morphed into a black feline, andwaited outside Bayville High. Now that Lance and Pietro were living with Magneto, they could now take her right to him. Unlike Pietro, Lance still went to Bayville High. She knew it was because Lance had, as Mystique called it, 'a stupid infatuation with the Shadowcat.'

The last bell rang, and Mystique made her way down to the back of Lance's 4 wheel drive. She jumped in the back and hid under the seat. After five or so minutes, Lance finally reached the car. Mystique listened as Lance argued with Toad.

"Yo! That ain't fair!" Toad complained.

"Too bad. Magneto don't want you!" Lance growled back.

"So what am I supposed to do, yo?" Toad complained.

Lance jumped into the driver's seat of his car and started the engine. "Go home."

Once they were clear of the school, Mystique morphed into a tiny lizard and crawled into Lance's backpack.

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"Ah, Charles. I've got some new information about the device," Hank said as he entered Xavier's quarters.

Xavier placed his book down and clasped his hands together. "What have you got?"

Hank sat down opposite Xavier. "As it turns out, the device's origins are unknown. However, there is record of it being used once before, thousands of years ago."

Xavier leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "Really? By whom?"

Hank handed Xavier the newly translated texts. "Apocalypse."

Xavier looked up from the papers so Hank. "Now that was the last name I expected to hear!"

"Same," Hank replied. "But the consciousness in Apocalype now, isn't the one that originally came with that body. The translations tell of a man who used the device to gain control of Apocalypse's body and become the man, or thing, he is today."

Xavier looked over the translations. "Interesting. So how did Mystique get a hold of it?"

Hank rubbed his chin and thought about it. "Dare I say, maybe Apocalypse gave it to her?"

"Or she stole it from him," Xavier continued.

Mystique tried not to be thrown about as Lance threw the backpack to the ground. She waited until the room was quiet before exiting the backpack. She looked around the room. They were in what looked like an abandoned warehouse. The entire room was huge and empty, save for many wooden storage boxes. Above were windows, looking into what looked like bedrooms. She quickly ran out of the backpack and behind one of the storage boxes. There appeared to be no security systems. Who would want to attack a warehouse full of mutants?

Satisfied that no one was watching, she morphed back into her usual blue form. Other than the entrance, there was a single metal sliding door on the other side of the room.

On the other side of the door was another storage room. A few of the arcolytes sat around watching T.V. She caught a glimpse of Magneto heading down a staircase on the far side of the room. 'You know you can't keep secrets from me, Eric.'

"Chere!" Remy called out. Rogue didn't stop walking. "Chere!" He called again as he grabbed her arm. He spun Rogue around and made her face him. He kept his hands firmly placed on her shoulders.

Rogue looked away. She didn't want to see that look in Remy's eyes again. She didn't want to see that sad, disappointed look.

"Will you look 't me!" Remy yelled.

Rogue, stunned that Remy forgot his third person speech, looked right at him. "You.."

Remy let out a smile in the corner of his mouth, and shrugged. "Yeah."

Rogue was still stunned and didn't know what to say. "You.."

Remy rolled his demon eyes. "Remy.." he paused. "I'm happy to see you, Chere."

Rogue smiled and hugged Remy. "Ah'm beginning to like this change, Remy. What happened to yah in New Orleans?"

Remy and Rogue separated from the hug and held hands. "A lot. Remy tell you all. What do you say to dinner and a movie, Chere?"

"But the professor-"

"Let Remy talk to the professor. We'll all go insane if we stay here. Remy saw it just before in the hallway with Jean."

Rogue hugged Remy again. She missed having someone to hug. She felt like her tension left her body whenever she hugged him. "Ah'm glad you're back, Remy."

Mystique made her way down the cliché dark staircase that lead to the basement of the warehouse. She dared not turn on the lights. Instead, she morphed her eyes so that she could see better in the dark. Once reaching the bottom of the staircase, she could see what looked like a laboratory. Magneto was standing at a computer. Mystique couldn't see what he was doing, but she finally understood why he needed the device when she looked across the room. There stood a large glass cylinder. It was filled with some form of liquid. Bubbles rose from the bottom of the tube. The body of a young male was suspended in the liquid. His body was muscular, naked except for a pair of small black shorts. His face had a chiselled jaw. His eyes were closed, and his hair was so fair, that it looked white. Mystique instantly knew who it was.

"Oh my God."