Don't worry, dear readers, I haven't forgotten you! I've been getting all of my things ready to move and nursing a pet project, so i've been rather busy. This chapter is short and I apologize for it. In truth it was supposed to be much longer, but since I've changed the ending of the next chapter, I decided it really needed to be split in half, and this was the most logical place to cut it.

Thank you for the compliments on the 'Hank speak' ;) I confess: I used my neuropsych/psychopharmacology classes at school to come up with all of the jargon in the previous chapter, and except for the more obvious source of the problem, it is all scientifically accurate. So !review! because I care enough about you to give you the medical terminology that you deserve :)

Chapter 7

Morning at the Mansion

"Rogue! Come on, like, hurry up already!" Kitty sighed with exasperation as she waited for her roommate to vacate the bathroom. Can't she just put on her makeup in our room, like normal people do? she thought, not without annoyance. Does she have to use the bathroom?

Yawning, Scott closed the door to his room and started down the hall. "Bus leaves in five, people," he called out, "Anyone not in the garage is walking." Satisfied by the various murmured acknowledgements from the tired students milling the halls, Scott passed by the bathroom where Kitty was posted, arm phased through the door up to her elbow. "Just give me my toothbrush," she was pleading. "It's the blue one on the left. Don't make me come in there, Rogue!" Leaving her to her battle, Scott continued down the hall, wincing slightly at the sight of Evan racing down the hall on his skateboard, completely oblivious as always to the fact that the floor was carpeted.

Making a mental note to talk to Evan when he wasn't so tired, Scott reached Jean's open doorway. "Morning Scott," she called from the closet, before he could knock, drawing a grin from him despite his exhaustion. "Hey, Jean. You coming to school today?" he asked, as a pair of shoes floated out of the closet and landed gracefully by the bed. "Dr McCoy didn't want me to until I talked to the Professor," she told him, as he surveyed the room. He and Logan had cleaned up the glass and righted the fallen dresser, but the room still bore a slight resemblance to a war zone. "Did you talk to him, then?" he asked, and felt her concerned frown in his mind as easily as if he had seen it. "No," she answered, stepping out of her closet while tying a long, black scarf around her neck, effectively hiding an angry red scratch. "It's the weirdest thing. Normally I can talk to him telepathically as easily as I talk to you, but he feels asleep in my mind. Which he can't be, because Professor Xavier never—what?" she asked abruptly, around the same second that Scott realized he was blatantly staring at her. "Nothing," he covered, "I like the outfit." Jean had forgone the usual stomach baring shirt in favor of a sundress to go with her black scarf and gloves, and although it had been chosen to hide the scrapes and bruises from the previous evening, the combination worked for her. "Thanks," she said, flexing her fingers in front of her to test their stiffness. "My hands are all bandaged from the glass, so Rogue lent me an extra pair of gloves."

"Jus' don't make it too populah," Rogue said darkly, leaning in the doorway behind Scott. "I lahke you an' all Jean, but I'd hafta kill ya. Whoa," she exclaimed, looking around Jean's room for the first time. "You said you broke the window, but ya didn't mention the part about breakin' the room. We leavin'?" she asked, heading toward the stairs without waiting for an answer. Scott looked knowingly at Jean, who shrugged her shoulders guiltily. "I didn't think it was worth mentioning to the team," she lied. Scott wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they left the room. "Don't worry," he told her. "I won't tell."

Xavier watched from his window, not without amusement, as the younger students were herded into the X-van by their unwilling chauffer. As if sensing his gaze, Logan glowered up at him, his moody expression almost asking why he had to drive the runts to school just because Ororo was heading out on a mission. Xavier smiled at him and pointedly tapped his watch, chuckling as Logan discreetly popped his center claw a finger's length. Wheeling himself over to his desk, he gathered some loose paperwork, intending to finish the calculations regarding the school budget. Deciding with a sigh that he would simply have to appropriate additional funding to the building repairs account, Xavier sifted through his notes concerning ground maintenance. Definitely more Storm's area of expertise. Xavier glanced at the clock. 7:14. Ororo wasn't scheduled to leave for another sixteen minutes. Storm, he called out pleasantly, I wonder what you would think about budgeting fifte—

Xavier paused. Something was wrong. Storm wasn't there. He cast his mental net broader, deeper.

He could not sense anyone. Slightly panicked, Xavier expanded his reach to encompass a two mile radius. Nothing. There was nobody. Where were his children? Where was—

The professor blinked and shook his head, then glanced at the clock. 7:16. Ororo would be leaving in less than fifteen minutes, and hopefully when she returned they would know enough to begin planning. But until then, he had the annual budget to keep him occupied. Ground maintenance, one area where Ororo's estimate was more valuable than his. No matter, he could ask her thoughts on the subject after the mission. No use in bothering her while she was getting ready to leave.