Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is remotely familiar.

A/N: Sorry it's taken me a while to update. I had writer's block or something. And thanks to all of you who have reviewed and to those of you who are still reading. You make my day.

Kool-Wolf - Thanks for the review. I know this isn't soon, but it's here.

Numbuh333halfway2hell - Thanks for the review. And you'll find out fairly soon, if you don't know who it is already.

Sangofanatic - Thanks for the review. And I suppose it wasn't really that hard to figure out who they were, lol. But hey, ya never know…

Pinkpunkmonkey - Glad you do.

Riderazzo - Well, I updated…obviously. And yeah, I couldn't not have him there, lol.

Silvar - Glad you like it so far. And uh…well…here's the next chapter!

Tommy Sharpton - Lol. Okay, well, here it is.

Starrydreamz - Yeah, I've had writer's block and such (not to mention I was out of town and computerless for almost 2 weeks…which really isn't an excuse, but whatever). But anyway, I'm back! So, enjoy…

Chapter 4

Who was it?

Rogue didn't bother with formalities; she entered the Brotherhood house and headed straight for the stairs. She wasn't sure where Kitty was but she doubted that she'd just be lying around downstairs out in the open. Her first guess as to where she was, was Lance's room; considering Lance wasn't at school and she was pretty sure he would gladly give up his own bed for her.

Rogue reached Lance's room and found Lance sitting on the floor staring at the closed door. He looked up at Rogue and gave a faint smile, causing Rogue to look at him curiously. She sighed and sat down beside him.

"What's goin' on?" she asked, staring at the door. "How is she?"

"Beast is in there with her now. She…she doesn't look good." Lance said, his voice breaking slightly.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." Lance said, running a hand through his hair. "From what Wanda told me, she showed up in the middle of the night and collapsed. She's pretty beaten up though. And a few of her ribs are broken."

Rogue's eyes narrowed; she had gotten the other information from Pietro but she didn't know how badly off she was. She just couldn't understand what could have happened to her.

Just then, Beast came out and sighed. He looked at the two teens sitting on the floor in front of him as he closed Lance's door behind him. Lance and Rogue stood up and faced him, wanting answers. He led them downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table; the other two did the same.

"I bandaged up her stomach and told her that she shouldn't be doing anything that could cause more damage. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do about the bruises." He said, shaking his head sadly. "I honestly cannot think of who could have done such a thing to her. And she is so scared, she would barely let me near her." Beast said sadly.

"Can Ah go see her?" Rogue asked, still unable to picture what condition Kitty was in. Beast nodded and that was all she needed. She made her way upstairs at a speed that would put Pietro to shame.

Rogue opened the door slowly and made her way inside. She gasped when she saw Kitty; she was worse than she imagined. She walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. Kitty was staring at the wall, pointedly avoiding her.

"Kit…who did this to ya?" Rogue asked quietly, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall at seeing her best friend this way. Kitty looked at Rogue with tears in her eyes as well, but there was a small smile playing on her lips.

"I…I can't…." she said, bringing a shaking hand up to her face and wiping away some of her tears. "It…I…He wasn't himself...I could tell."

"Who Kit? Please, whoever did this to ya has to pay." Rogue just looked on in amazement as her stubborn friend did nothing but shake her head. "Kitty, Ah don' understand why ya can't say who it is…but Ah ain't gonna push it." She said, knowing her friend would come around eventually. "Well, Ah'm goin'. Ah'll stop by tomorrow and check on ya, alright?"

"Thanks Rogue." Kitty said, smiling at her friend. "Could you ask Kurt to stop by sometime, too?

Rogue nodded, a small smile on her face. She then left, closing the door behind her. She made her way back downstairs where Beast was waiting for her. She said goodbye to Lance, telling him that she'd be back tomorrow after school.

Gambit had been lurking in the shadows for some time. He had slipped in and out of the house without being noticed and had heard the gist of what was going on. He was kind of surprised that one of the X-Men had been beaten up in such a way; and even more surprised at the fact that she had the power to phase out of danger but didn't. He just shrugged it off though and went on his way.

Rogue had glanced out the window of the X-van as they pulled out and she could have sworn she saw red on black eyes staring back at her, but when she looked again there was nothing there. She closed her eyes and shook her head, looking straight ahead once again.

Once at the mansion, Rogue and Beast were bombarded with questions. After managing to slip away from everyone, Rogue headed off to find Kurt. Beast wasn't as lucky and was currently backed into a corner of the room by pretty much all of the new recruits.

Rogue found Kurt pacing in his room. She sighed and knocked on his already open door. He turned to look at her and started the 20-question game in German almost immediately. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for him to shut up. He did so after about five minutes.

"Ok, first of all...Ah have no idea as to anythin' ya just said." She said as he stared at her in disbelief; but before he could open his mouth again she held up her hand to stop him. "But Ah do have a message to deliver." Then she paused, enjoying the impatient look on his face as she took her time. He was about to say something when she spoke up. "Kitty wants ya to visit her at the Brotherhood house."

"Vhat?" Kurt said alarmed. "Vhy is she zhere."

"Listen Kurt, she doesn' look good at all. And she wouldn' talk to me. Ya need to find out who hurt her." Rogue said seriously. "Get her to talk to ya."

"I vill try." He said, and then he ported away.

A/N: Yeah, not my best chapter. Please review and let me know what you thought.