AN: A friend of mine has made a fic based on the AGU series called Inner Demons by KaliAnn. Check it out if you want more AGU stuff and it's pretty good as it takes place soon after this timeline when school starts up.

AN: Well I reworked this chapter, this time I hope people like this one better I hope although I'm still unsure about this chapter I tried my best people but sometimes you just can't get them to work right. It's hard to get all the chapters perfect and I try my best.

BACK TO SCHOOL

CHAPTER 4: FRIENDSHIPS AND LOVE PUT TO THE TEST

Vincent was in his room, he had gotten all this school stuff ready but at the moment he had just finished meditation or at least was trying to. He was nervous about this, going to a new school where everyone knew he was a mutant would be tough but then again he wasn't alone in that. He looked at the pictures he had on the shelf. A few old but a few new ones were of his life back in Toronto missed it there sometimes. He kept inn touch with Father Michaels, Master Kansuke and of course his two best friends Mary and Benny.

There were also a few shots of him and the others here at the mansion. One of him and Rogue which he liked since it was after she gained control of her powers so they were nice and close. Then his face dropped as he came to April's picture. He took a deep sigh as he would forever be reminded of that day she died and the unfairness of it all, how that monster Sinister screwed up the lives of so many people.

There was also a new one, it was of other survivors of Project Prodigy. They gave him the picture not too long ago, in it was Wes and Susan together and obviously a couple with a shy Clare next to them. Vincent sighed to himself and laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling.

He knew that his life was one of joy and yet at times a lot of suffering. There were times it was just hard to live with sometimes. He talked with the other survivors about it, and it was hard but they knew what he had been going through. There was a knock on his door as it opened up and he saw Rogue there looking in. "Hey Amanda brought some friends along and is showin' them the mansion. Ya up for a little greetin'?"

Vince sighed and thought about it, he wasn't really in the mood at the moment, "Maybe later."

She knew that tone of voice and his demeanour as she walked in and closed the door behind her. She knew that at times he had those days when he was weighed down by his past. She still had the memories in her mind although she locked them up along with all the others she had but she knew what he had been through and it was amazing anyone could still be a nice guy at times. "Rough day huh?"

"Yeah I had a rough night again." He said as he sat up. He didn't have to explain why, normally he usually only had a nightmare now and then but with April's death they had been coming more often at times. Thankfully he was starting to get over her death a bit although it still hurt like hell to think about her lifeless body in his arms. She sat down next to him holding his hand.

"Ya want ta talk about it?"

"Maybe later," he signed and got up as she frowned at him.

"Ya got ta learn ta talk about this. Ya can't keep it all bottled up lahke ya had for years." She told him as she got up as well.

Now he was just getting frustrated, everyone wanted him to talk about this. He had these sessions with Xavier to help him deal with this but why couldn't they understand? He didn't want to talk about it he just wanted it to go away. "I'm sick and tired of talking about this! I just want it all to go away, I'm sick of the nightmares or the memories I'm just sick of it all." His fists tightened up trying his best not to hit something and then break it. He had spent years trying to control himself when he got like this.

"Ah know ya do and ah don't blame ya," She said softly hugging him from behind. Normally she would have never done this but over time thanks to her ability to touch again and with the others trying to get her to open up more she felt a bit more comfortable like this. At least in private she was still a bit shy about public displays of affection. Vince felt her there and signed feeling a bit more calm now.

For a moment he just let her hold him, feeling her head resting against his shoulder and he could smell her hair. "I don't deserve you…" He said mainly to himself really.

She pulled her head up in surprise, "Now why would ya say somethin' stupid lahke that?"

He turned around to face her and looked into those green eyes for a moment, "Because you deserve someone that isn't messed up in the head. I mean did you know just how messed up I am? I had to take medication when I was a kid at the orphanage in order to just sleep some nights and my body chemistry it permanently messed up, some drugs don't work on me while others have other effects so I got to be careful of what I take sometimes."

"Ah know but ya know others are in just as much pain. Look at meh damn it. For years I couldn't touch and ya know how hard that was on meh?" She said a bit angrily.

"I know, I know I'm not the only one here that has issues and suffered from something. But you got over it, you got better but some of us never will." He said gently to her as she could see the pain in his eyes now.

"You've helped meh too you know, and tha others. Before I was so isolated and alone that ah was so lonely that it hurt, even before mah mutation kicked in." She remembered those years of her life. Growing up with no real friends with Irene raising her Irene had tried to make her life good but there were just a few things that Rogue didn't like to talk about. She wanted to leave that life behind her and start over that was why she never used her real name. She wanted a clean slate when she came here to forget her pain.

Vince saw this faraway look in her eyes, "How come you never really talk about it?" Now that got her attention as she looked at him, "You tell me that I need to talk about it but you barely talk about yourself. You got all my memories so you know all the main things about me and if you wanted you could just bring them up and know anything about me yet I still barely know you Rogue and you have any idea how much that hurts? That I don't know much about the past of the girl I'm in love with?"

"It doesn't matter," She shook her head, "Ah just wanted ta leave that in the past, besides ah can't just pull up memories it's hard for meh ta do cause ah could lose mahself if ah try too much."

"I just wish you'd open up to me more Rogue," he sighed to himself. "I know I said I wouldn't push and I haven't but after all this time I only learn a bit about you but nothing about your life. What was so horrible that you just decided to lock up from everyone?"

She closed her eyes not wanting to talk, she knew that she should but she wasn't ready. She didn't want to remember she had enough to deal with as it was. Over the past month she had been given new training as she was going to be put on reserve duty for leadership of the X-Men if Jean or Scott weren't around. Because of how she handled the Town X thing they were giving her a chance to lead but she wasn't sure she could take that kind of responsibility. Not only that since Jean and Scott were taking collage she would be the one responsible for the mutants in high school. All this pressure and now Vince wanting to her to open up was just too much at the moment.

"Look ah try okay but it's not easy for meh!" She said a bit angrily.

"Well then why?" He asked at bit more harshly.

"Because ah don't like ta think about it," She snapped at him. Sure Irene had been a great person to raise her but her life had been a lonely one. She was picked on a lot in her life and pretty much had no friends before coming here. And there was something else, some things that she never told anyone. She had a few memories of her life before Irene and those memories weren't things she wanted to dig up. She spent her life trying to burry those memories.

"Now you know how I feel," Vince told her.

"Is this what this is all about? This whole trust thing? When have I ever showed you any sings that ah couldn't beh trusted?"

"How about when you said you had feelings for Gambit and let him kiss you that one time?" He knew that was a mistake as soon as it left his mouth but he couldn't take it back now.

"When did you…" She remembered that moment, back when Gambit was still around. When she had said such things to him, that was when she had been confused on her feelings towards Remy and Vince and couldn't decided on who she liked more. "Where you spyin' on meh?"

"Yes-no! I…I just overheard is all."

She wasn't sure about that, she trusted him and now she had no idea if he had been spying or it was an accident. The last person she had truly trusted had been Risty so when she turned out to have been using her all alone and was in fact Mystique well that had been a nasty blow to her. Now she looked at him and felt mixed feelings.

First was the fact he had heard that, and she could only guess at the pain that caused. He never told her about this, so did that mean he didn't trust her anymore? She honestly didn't know what to think at the moment she was angry and so it made her a bit confused. Rogue also was hurt that he had spied on her and never once told her, never once thought she should know this. She just couldn't deal with this.

She was new to this whole relationship thing so she just turned and walked out before it got even worse. Rogue needed to think and cool off.

Vince watched her go then signed and sat down on his bed thinking about what just happened. He knew this wasn't the end of their relationship it was just a fight all couples did it. He had seen a few himself and they were never pretty but if he had been depressed before he really felt low now. He let his head fall down a bit looking at the ground and took a deep breath, "Vincent…You are an idiot…" He told himself and figured it might take a bit to repair this but he would.

-Elsewhere in the Mansion-

Amanda was showing Carmen and Wendy around the place they were pretty much blown away by the size of the place. "Man you got everything here," Carmen said looking around. "And indoor and outdoor pool too…You think you can invite us over for a swim inside when the weather turns cold?" She asked with a grin.

Amanda only laughed and nodded her head. "Yeah but you got to earn your keep here. I mean with the training we do not to mention just how much more crazy my life has gotten is kind of…well…insane at times."

"You don't really have a room called the Danger Room filled with deathtraps do you?" Wendy asked a bit nervous at that. Amanda shyly nodded her head she remembered how she had been when she had first tried it. Even with Kurt helping her she had been scared to death but after all she had been through she had learned to be a bit more confident and had done things she never thought she was capable of.

"Yeah we do, plus the outside there is a hidden training course with a whole bunch of things just like that." Amanda admitted to them as they looked shocked at her. Here was a girl they had known for years and she had been this nice regular girl. She was okay at sports and had been a bit on the shy side but now it seems that she had changed a bit.

She looked more confident now and it was as if her eyes had been open to a whole new world which both girls were thinking she had. After all that they had heard about what she and even her family had to endure. "So anyway…how did you get to talk your parents into all of this?" Carmen asked trying to change the subject.

"Well…It wasn't easy they would only let me do light training but after that whole thing with Trask they decided that with people like him out there they wanted me to be a bit more trained to take care of myself."

"Well at least they can see you anytime," Wendy told her thinking about it. "From what I know some of these people come from other countries."

Amanda nodded she was lucky with that, she would spend the weekend on her parents new house and would come over for dinner at times. Of course the invited Kurt to a few of those, she was glad that her parents finally accepted her relationship with Kurt, she even invited Blink a couple of times as they even slept over at her parents home in her new room. "Yes it is nice to be able to see them anytime I want sure living here is…well it's unlike anything but I still miss them."

"Yeah so I've got to ask," Carmen was grinning and both girls knew that wasn't a good thing, "Since you actually live with your boyfriend…how close have you two gotten?"

"Carmen!" Wendy asked as Amanda blushed at the comment.

"That's none of your business," Amanda told her still blushing at the question, "Besides not as far as you're thinking."

"Oh well I just had to ask, I mean how many people actually live with who they are dating?" The Latin girl asked them both as they walked on in the mansion. She had to admit the place was a palace, and she was beginning to wonder if being a mutant wouldn't be that bad. "So where is Kurt?"

That was something that Amanda had kind of skipped on her explanation. There were a few things she didn't tell them like how his biological mother was a mutant terrorist and was the old principle. How his biological father was part of some mutant group with those who were outcasts of society cause of their looks. She did tell them a few things like his power but not his physical thing and it was time to tell them the truth. She was just glad they hadn't noticed the picture of him in his natural from in her room.

"Guys there's a few details that I didn't tell you about…You see…" She wasn't sure where to start and she took a breath as her two friends were a looking at her with a bit of concern. "You saw Blink and well as you can see some mutants go through physical changes. She uses a holowatch that makes a hologram around her to make her look normal."

"You know I was kind of wondering how she got around looking like…well like that without getting hassled." Wendy thought out loud given that they knew Blink would be at school with them and she wondered how she would get around with everyone just staring at her.

"Well…you see Kurt wears one too," She told them and both girls stopped. They looked at her for a moment as they processed that.

"So what? He's purple too?" Carmen asked first.

Amanda shook her head, "No blue, and well…He's a but more…unique then Clarice."

"Just…How unique?" Wendy was starting to wonder if Kurt was some type of monster but she never saw Amanda going for a guy like that. They both had talked to Kurt a few times before and he seemed like a nice guy. Now knowing that the Kurt they knew was in fact looked like something else was kind of a shock.

Amanda tried to explain Kurt's looks to them and she even went on to tell them that Mr. McCoy their old teacher that had gone missing was actually at the mansion because his mutation had changed him too. She did her best to nicely describe their looks but from the looks of their faces she wasn't sure she was doing a good job.

"So…When did you find out about all of this?" Wendy asked.

"I found out before we dated actually," She admitted and told them how she had seen Kurt in his real form when his watch for a minute wasn't sure what she had seen for awhile. They listened in as she told them how she had wrestled with it and how she knew no one would believe her if she told them what she found out. Then how she had started to think about it and how she had already liked Kurt before and was interested to know what was going on with him then how she had told him she had known his secret.

"Wow…I mean that's just unbelievable," Carmen told her as Wendy had no idea what to say to all of that. "Well…we might as well meet him in the flesh for real this time, you know get it out of the way and out of our system."

Amanda was nervous about this but as she teleported around and asked a few people she found Kurt in the living room with a snack. She told him what was coming and even though he was always nervous about how people really saw him he knew that they had to get this over with. Amanda brought them to the entrance to the room and took a moment, "Now just remember that Kurt is a bit…sensitive about this so please try not to freak out."

"I-I'll try." Wendy said all of this was making her a bit tense. Carmen just shrugged, what happened would happen. They entered the room and then they saw sitting on a couch a blue devil looking boy with gold eyes and of a things an actual tail! Both girls just kind of froze looking at him with open mouths.

Kurt shifted a bit nervously, "Uh…hi." He said to them and waved a two fingered hand at them.

Both girls' eyes widened a bit at the voice. They knew that was Kurt's voice but this was just something totally unreal. "I…Think I need to sit down." Wendy said to herself and took a chair not taking her eyes off of Kurt.

Carmen was just shocked as she looked at him, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. But she knew she should say something, "Uh…hey Kurt."

Amanda sat down next to Kurt taking his hand in hers as her friends started to get used to the image of Kurt like this. It took them about five minutes to get over the initial shock but they were getting used to it.

"So…uh…Amanda you're parents know?" Wendy asked, Kurt was just kind of freaky looking to her, in fact he was kind of scary.

"Yeah but they eventually got over it," She looked at her friends who was sitting the farthest away."

"Maybe I should go?" Kurt asked her seeing the look he was getting. It reminded him of how Kitty was when she first showed up and truth was that really hurt.

"No," Amanda said and looked at Wendy," There is nothing wrong with him Wendy."

"Nothing wrong! He's…well…look at him!" Kurt cringed at that outburst. He was really thinking about leaving now.

"Wendy!" Carmen shouted out.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She said softly placing her face in her hands. "This is just a lot to take in."

"Well you don't have to be rude about this!" Amanda said to her.

"Hold it girls," Carmen said stepping in before things got ugly. "Look you got to admit Kurt needs time to get used to, uh…No offence Kurt."

He sighed and nodded he was used to this kind of thing sadly enough, "No offence taken."

"But Wendy you got to get a grip, we've both knew Kurt before this so you know what kind of guy he was."

"We knew he was blue furry demon looking boy?" Wendy asked sarcastically.

Carmen pinched her nose, "Okay well you know what I mean. Kurt's a nice guy, sure the whole blue thing gets time to get used to…right?" She asked the other two.

"Ja, I know sometimes people need time," Kurt wished this was going better but sometimes he knew some people took longer to get used to it then others. This was why he didn't want to go out without his watch.

Wendy did feel bad seeing the hurt expression on his face. It was just hard to get over his looks at the moment, he looked like something she once had a nightmare about to be honest. But this was Amanda's boyfriend and part of her life so she guessed that she better put an effort into it if she didn't want to lose her as a friend. Plus she didn't want to put Carmen in the middle either.

"So then…Kurt what's it like living here?" Carmen asked to change the topic.

Kurt was just in the middle of a story about this prank he pulled on Rogue and her boyfriend, they were also surprised to find out that Rogue was his sister of all things but he said that was a long story and for another time. They both figured they had enough of those for one day. Kurt was reaching for a cookie when all of a sudden a small purple winged and scaled creature flew in and snatched it from Kurt's hand.

"Hey! Lockheed! Zhat vas mien!" Kurt said angrily at the small creature as he perched on top of a shelf and ate it. The Carmen jumped from her place when it flew by close to her and Wendy shrieked in her chair looking at the strange creature about two meters from her.

"Mi dios! What is that!" Carmen asked pointing at the small dragon.

"Uh…That's Kitty's pet…Dragon." Amanda told them not sure how you even start to explain that to them.

"A Dragon?" Both girls cried out as Amanda thought that maybe they had enough shocks for one day.

-Bayville-

Ray was with his girlfriend Pamela 'Pam' Cranston as he was walking her home from where they had just had a date. Ray had to admit she was perfect girl for him, she didn't mind his hot headed nature in fact she sometimes got just like him a few times. She was this good looking girl his own age with short brown hair and eyes and an incredible set of legs. Ray had to admit he was lucky to find her and boy did they have fun together. She was kind of a wild girl in her punk rock look but he liked that kind of thing.

"I still can't believe those guys doing that stuff with the dirt bikes that was just so freaking cool!" She explained, as they had arrived from a nearby pit on the edge of town where a few guys were doing some tricks. "But man that one guy that wiped out trying to do a Superman in the air, now THAT had to hurt."

"No kidding I swear I saw his arm pop out and then back in when he bounced." Ray laughed. "You know if it weren't for the fact that mutants may not be let in, a few of use were thinking of entering that race coming up."

"Well I saw screw that and enter anyway. You know what I say; If they give you attitude then I say give it back." She grinned at him. They had been dating since the summer and normally Pam knew that she usually got bored and moved on after just one month but Ray was able to keep her interests. That was rare, because she really enjoyed hanging out with him too. Maybe that was her problem she only went out with good looking boys with nothing in common with them.

With Ray she found out that they shared a few common interests, like music, the same type of idea of what fun was. She smiled at that memory of them in that simulator. That had been fun before that Logan guy caught them. She was sure that if they had been just a bit older she was thinking that would have been neat version of the mile high club but they weren't ready for that, although they sure as hell made out very nicely.

They were at her apartment building and were going to the door when an older woman in her mid thirties was opening the door and walking out. She was jeans and a white blouse with shoulder length hair much like Pam's. "Pamela there you are."

Pam cringed a bit, "Mom…You know I hate it when people call me that." All the while Ray just mouthed the word 'mom' to himself. He had never met her mother, he knew that her dad took off when she was young one day and never came back but to be honest her mother was kind of hot. He knew that wasn't the type of thing you wanted to think about but it was true. He looked at his girlfriend and he saw a lot of her in her mother.

Sure the hair was different and they had different eyes but they there really was a strong family resemblance.

Her mother sighed, "Yes I know, sorry Pam. So…Who is this? Another boyfriend?"

"Mom," She warned her, she knew that her mother never liked how she kept on dating so many different boys. Pam knew her mother was just a bit worried about her and wanted her to find a nice stable relationship for once.

"Well then I'm Miss Fran Cranston," She said politely although the boy did have a odd hair cut he didn't seem too bad.

"Ray Crisp," He said nicely with a small smile.

"Well then I'm on the way to pick up some groceries so Pam I need you to water the plants for me and maybe ask your new boyfriend over sometime," Fran tried to have an active role in her daughter's life she just wanted to at least meet every boy she dated at least once. Some she liked others she hadn't so she wanted to meet this new one.

"Yeah but mom-" She tried to say but her mother was already in a hurry to get what she needed so dinner wouldn't be late. Pam sighed to herself, she always hated it when she brought her boyfriends over for dinner it wasn't that her mother was a pain to them. Actually she started of nice to them she just hated how she started to ask them a few questions about their future and stuff and their relationship to her.

Pam just figured it was her way of making sure she just didn't end up with a guy like her dad she guessed. At least that was what she figured it was. She looked at Ray, "So…want to come over some night for dinner?" She lamely asked him knowing her mother wouldn't stop until they set a date for this.

NEXT UP CHAPTER 5: MAKE UP AND FINAL PREPERATIONS