Author's Note: This chapter is sort of abrupt, so apologies for that. There's a bunch of short scenes in here, which I attribute to writer's block and everyone being scattered. And entirely too many people being emo. Especially Rachel. No more emo for you! And, uh. Stuff. I have little sleep and lots of caffeine in my system right now, so sorry if some of this doesn't make sense. Anyway. People who sent flames will be yelled at in angry German by Abby and then engorfed by Paesha's chest. So there.

Chapter Nine

That morning was the first Sunday in a long time that Kurt didn't go to church. Samantha told him he should go, but her system was still a little fried from Backlash's energy whip and she had fallen asleep pretty much right after she said that. So he stayed, sitting by her side. And that was how Bobby found him when he went downstairs before breakfast, hoping to talk to Piotr. Unfortunately, Piotr was asleep. Anorra was sleeping as well, curled up on the floor in dragon form next to Piotr's bed.

Kurt was awake, though, and he was always a good person to talk to. Bobby definitely needed some good advice right now. Although Bobby did feel a little strange asking the blue mutant for advice about his love life.

Still, Bobby approached him, asking, "Kurt? Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

"Jawohl." Kurt said. He glanced over at Samantha's sleeping form, then pulled Bobby a safe distance away so they wouldn't disturb her.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Samantha opened one eye and peered around a bit. When she saw that everyone was otherwise occupied, she carefully slid out of her bed. Being extra specially quiet, Samantha slowly pulled her IV from her hand and tip-toed across the room. When she reached the stairs, she had to stop for a moment and steady herself against the wall. Then she began the painstaking process of climbing up the stairs. Fortunately, the morphine that was still in her system prevented her from feeling any real pain.

When she reached the head of the stairs, she paused again, then started walking towards the stables. Every so often, she stopped to rest against a wall. It was during one of these rests that she ran into Rachel.

"Um. Are you supposed to be out of bed?' Rachel asked.

"Shhh." Samantha hissed. "I'm sneaking out. I'm going to the stables."

"Oh." Rachel replied. "Okay. I'll tell them you went up to your room, then, when they notice you're gone."

"You rule." Samantha said.

Rachel grinned. "I know. And I'd be doing the same thing if they were keeping me down there."

Samantha grinned back, then gave a wave and began limping onward. Rachel continued back to her room, trying to convince herself that going to talk to Bobby would only add more confusion to the situation. She wasn't doing a very good job, and was on the verge of going to find him when she heard a bamfing noise behind her. She turned around to see Kurt standing there in the middle of a fading cloud of smoke.

"Where is she?" He asked.

"Samantha? She, um, she went to her room." Rachel replied.

Kurt let out something that might have been a snarl, showing off his fanged teeth. His gold eyes flashed in an almost menacing fashion as he crouched before her. "I was just there. And she was not. So. Where is she?"

Wow. Rachel hadn't ever thought that Kurt could be scary. "Um. Stables?"

Kurt disappeared again, and Rachel decided she was really glad she wasn't Samantha. Because she was going to be in so much trouble.

Rogue absently ran her gloved fingers through Gambit's hair as he slept. She should really leave. She had been in there most of the day yesterday, and all last night. By now, Bobby had to be at least a little suspicious. And Rogue couldn't say it wasn't unwarranted. She didn't know this man, not nearly as well as she knew Bobby. But for some reason, in the week that she had known Gambit Rogue felt closer to him than she did after years of knowing Bobby.

Bobby was still her best friend. He always would be. And she could remember a time when he had been something more, when she had lived for those few moments when she could kiss his icy lips without hurting him. Rogue didn't know when that had stopped. But it had been gone for awhile, now. She just hadn't noticed it until Gambit had thrown it in her face.

Her gaze focused on him, eyes affectionate. Somehow the swamp rat had gotten under her skin. The times when Gambit had been awake enough to talk yesterday, they had held rather interesting conversations. He had been delirious enough to actually answer some of her questions about his past, telling her he had been a thief and he wanted out. He was at Xavier's because he had no where else to go. Like her. Like a lot of the people here, actually. Bobby included.

She gave a sigh as Bobby invaded her thoughts again. Rogue needed to talk to him. She needed to get rid of this slightly nervous, slightly sad, and slightly guilty feeling. Untangling her fingers from Gambit's hair, Rogue pushed back her chair and quietly left the room.

When Bobby wasn't in his room, Rogue went to hers and found him waiting there for her. She closed the door behind her and he looked up.

"Rogue…" He started, at the same time as she said, "Bobby…"

They paused for a moment, gazing at each other. When they saw the same look mirrored in both their eyes, the two of them understood.

"Yeah." Bobby said, giving a slightly sad smile. "It was great while it lasted, wasn't it?'

"It's not all gone, Bobby." Rogue said. "And what we have is still pretty good."

Bobby nodded, opening his arms for a hug. She fell into them, hugging him back.

"I don't think this really changes much, does it." Bobby said.

"No." Rogue agreed. "I think this happened awhile ago, and we just didn't see it. You know I'll always care about you, Bobby."

"Me too." He said, pressing his lips to the top of her head. "You're my best friend."

Rogue smiled, giving him a squeeze before pulling back. "And that's good enough."

Samantha shifted her weight and Anorra lifted her head, growling softly. Anorra and Kurt had found the injured mutant in the stables, leaning against the tack room door for support as she unlocked it. Anorra had been ready to change into her dragon form, pick Samantha up, and go on another destroying dragon run to the medical facilities, but Kurt had simply grabbed them both and teleported back. Then Samantha and Kurt had held a brief, quiet conversation that ended with Samantha promising to remain here until she was released. Anorra wasn't really sure how Kurt had managed to do that. It was probably because he was blue and furry. And it was also entirely possible that Samantha had been too distracted by his tail, which had been twitching about erratically during their conversation, to realize what she was really saying.

In any case, Anorra wasn't as worried about Samantha trying to escape now. When Samantha said the words "I promise," it was pretty much a given that the thing she was promising would be done. Samantha took her word very seriously. Still, though, Anorra had shifted into a dragon and plopped down by Samantha's bed. Just in case.

Besides, it had the added advantage of letting Anorra stay down in the medical area without sitting next to Piotr. The kiss she had given him wasn't something that she could just pretend hadn't happened. And it was making her a bit uncomfortable. The ease that had built up around the two of them was gone, and now Anorra was more nervous around him than ever. She was planning on spending the next few days trying to avoid him, at least until she could sort everything out.

"You know, you two really don't need to stay here." Samantha said. "It's not like I'm in danger of dying or anything. I just got a little fried. I should be out of here in no time."

"Samantha, you're free to go." Beast said as he walked out of his office.

Samantha blinked at him. "I should have a million dollars in no time."

There was a pause, then Anorra shook her head. Nice try, Sam.

Beast chuckled as he moved over to Samantha, getting her ready to leave. "If only things were that easy. Your heart rate and blood pressure have returned to normal. We have hit a few snags in discovering what material those knives were made of, but we are fairly certain it is no more dangerous than I believed."

"I am glad there is no need to worry, then." Kurt said.

"Me, too. Although I wasn't worried in the first place. Thanks, Hank." Samantha said, giving him a hug. "You're a life-saver."

He smiled, returning the hug. "It's what I do."

Samantha grinned, obviously pleased to be getting out of there. She slid out of bed and began on an unsteady path towards the stairs, commenting, "And now I'm going to take a shower."

Kurt watched her, then asked hesitantly, "Would you like me to assist you?"

Samantha blinked and turned back to look at him. "You wish to help me shower?"

Anorra started laughing and Kurt blushed.

"That is not what I meant." He said. "I meant assistance in getting to your room."

"Oh." Samantha said. "I, um, knew that. And, no, it's okay. I can manage it. Thanks, though."

Beast chuckled again and shook his head, then said, "Oh, Samantha, if you are going to shower, you will need someone to re-bandage your hand and back. Anorra, Kurt, would one of you mind doing it? You two have watched me do it the most times."

Anorra turned her large head to peer at Kurt. Could you do it? I'm not quite sure I remember it well enough.

Kurt nodded, then glanced at Samantha. "I will. If you do not mind."

"I don't mind." Samantha said. "And in that case, I think I will take that lift. It'll be faster."

Kurt moved over to grab her hand and the two of them disappeared. Anorra shifted back down to her human form and grabbed her bathrobe, slipping it on.

"How much longer do you think Piotr will be down here?" She asked Beast.

"Not too much longer. The danger of him slipping into a coma is past, and he is a fast healer." Beast said. "He will probably sleep a lot in the next day or so, though." He looked her over for a moment. "You don't have to stay down here with him."

Anorra shifted her weight. "I don't want him to wake up alone."

"You don't have to worry about that." Bobby said, coming down the stairs. "I came to visit. I'll stay here until he's awake, if you want to go upstairs."

Anorra debating things for a moment, then nodded. "I think I'll go change and grab some food. Tell him I'll come see him later when he wakes up, okay?"

"Sure thing." Bobby said. "See you later."

Anorra waved and headed up the stairs, trying not to feel like she was abandoning Piotr.

Pyro yawned and stretched out as he woke up. He was used to sleeping in the middle of his bed, so he was glad that Charm had left after they were done. She had said something about him being damn good and having to do this again as she got dressed, but Pyro didn't remember much of that. He had fallen asleep pretty much as soon as she had left.

It was a good thing she had been so flippant about it. Magneto didn't discourage relationships amongst his followers, but he did discourage one night stands that would end in tension and cause problems for the team. Fortunately, this one night stand didn't seem to have left any tension on either side. Although if Pyro's vague memory of what Charm said was right, there might be more that one night to look forward to. Pyro wouldn't mind that. She was a damn fine way to burn of energy. Much more enjoyable than just taking a few hours in the training room.

Something slammed against the wall near his room, then, and it had him bolting out of bed. He grabbed his lighter and flung open the door, instantly on guard. Backlash was standing in the hall, her whip clutched tightly in her hand. Toad crouched a few feet away from her. The dent in the wall next to him and the small dustings of plaster on Toad's coat told Pyro that Toad had been the thing slamming against the wall.

Before Pyro could say anything, Toad's tongue shot out. Backlash easily reached up and snatched it, preventing it from reaching whatever its target had been.

"You try to hit me with this one more time and I'll cut it out and feed it to you." Backlash said calmly, releasing his tongue.

Apparently unaffected, Toad grinned at her. "You can grab my tongue anytime you like, luv."

"Find a room and just go at it." Pyro told them. "And stop disturbing people."

Backlash raised one eyebrow and turned to look at him. "Like you and Charm went at it last night?"

Pyro shrugged. He didn't really care if people knew he got laid. "More or less. Probably less, considering I won't be there."

"Poor boy." Toad said. "Does it comfort you to believe that you're a man?"

"I'm more man than you are." Pyro replied. "But then again, it's had to be less man than a toad."

"Whip them out and compare, you two, or shut up." Backlash said. "And Pyro, keep this thing away from me or I might exterminate it."

"Hey, you came to see me." Toad said, but Backlash was already walking away. He sighed. "Oh, well. Now, let me tell you about proper sex etiquette when your room happens to share a wall with two others."

Zephyr spread out a blanket over the spot in the woods that she and Warren had chosen for their picnic. Now that they were certain their friends were going to be all right, the two of them had decided to try for that second date. She couldn't remember whose idea it was, but sometime during one of their many conversations yesterday, the suggestion of a picnic had been brought up. So today, they had packed up some food and headed out into the woods.

The clearing they had found was perfect. It was shady, but not too dark, and the sun still streamed in through the branches overhead. The grass was almost soft enough to sit on by itself, but they chose to use their blanket, anyway.

"Do you know what you're going to teach yet, or what classes you're going to take?" Zephyr asked as she sat down next to him.

Warren shook his head. "I don't know if I'll be teaching anything, actually. I am going to be taking a couple of classes, though. I'm really looking forward to the Mutant Ethics class that Professor Xavier is going to teach."

She smiled. "I'm in that one, too. Maybe we can be study buddies."

"I'd like that." Warren said. "And I'm sure you could help me get settled into the class."

"I've only been here for a little over a week, so I might not be the best person to help." She said. "But I can definitely give it a shot."

"Well, I'd rather have you, anyway." He said. "You were the first person I met."

She blushed slightly. "I'm glad I was. I really like spending time with you."

"Me, too." Warren said. "You're not like the other girls. I don't feel awkward around you at all."

"Good." She said. "I wouldn't want you to feel awkward around me. And give it some time, you won't feel awkward at all anymore. Before you know it, you'll be getting pranked yourself."

"Pranked?" He asked.

She nodded. "It's sort of a tradition with my friends. We all prank each other. Did you hear what we did to Rogue and Gambit?"

Warren laughed. "Handcuffed them together? Yeah, the whole mansion knows about that."

Zephyr grinned. "We set a great example for the students, don't we?"

"The students love you." He said. "They can relate to you. Besides, you know when that sort of stuff is inappropriate."

"Pretty much because of Anorra." She said. "She's sort of the group baby-sitter. Of course, when she has too much sugar, she's just as bad as we were. We were sort of infamous at our college, even though no one really knew who did all of the pranks we pulled."

"Oh?" Warren said. "Like what?"

"Well, one time, Anorra shifted into dragon form and she and Rachel flipped the glass dome roof of one of the buildings upside down. Then we filled it with a bunch of tropical fish that Sam got. Apparently the fish were utterly amused by it. The administration wasn't, though. It took them forever to get all of the fish safely out." She said. "And then one time we replaced the football team's sauna water with diluted perfume, so when they went into the sauna after practice they came out smelling like Britney Spears' Obsession. And a bunch of other stuff. We were going to figure out how to tap into the water fountains and replaced it with beer, but we came here before we got a chance."

Warren laughed. "You guys should do that here. Only on the teacher's floor, though. Xavier might be upset if we encouraged his students to drink."

Zephyr grinned. "You know, that's a good idea. I'll suggest it."

"Just make sure you let me know when you're doing it." He said. "I want in."

They continued chatting for awhile, until Zephyr offered Warren a piece of pie and accidentally dropped it in his lap. He scraped it off and flicked it at her, which prompted an all out food war. By the time they got back to the Institute, both of them were completely messy, but oddly happy.

Medication, lack of sleep, and limitless energy were not a good combination for Cassandra. Especially not when she was left alone. She had woken up in Logan's arms, and for awhile he had stayed with her, but for some reason he had seemed a little uncomfortable around her. Finally, she had told them that she needed some time alone to rest and he had left. After that, her friends cam in at various times to hang out with her. Now, though, she didn't know where they had gone off to. It was late, so maybe they were all sleeping.

Cassandra wasn't tired, though. Well, actually, she really was, but her brain had shut down before it could convince her body of this, so she was still awake. Not entirely functional, but awake. And she was on her way to take a shower. That probably wasn't a very good idea, seeing as how she had forgotten to take off the bandages on her leg. Of course, none of this occurred to Cassandra. She just wanted a shower.

She was so out of it that she didn't realize one of the shower stalls was occupied. Not even when she opened the shower curtain and walked right inside. Apparently she had gone into the wrong showers, because it was Logan's shower she was invading. He stared at her, obviously with absolutely no idea what to do. Cassandra went about completely unaware of him there, setting down her shampoo and other shower items. Logan started to say something, but before he could get anything out she unwrapped her towel and tossed it over the top of the shower door.

She turned around and finally spotted him. "Logan! What are you doing in my shower?"

"Your shower?" Logan asked.

"Cass? Hey, Cass, where are you?" Zephyr shouted from out in the hall.

"I'm in the shower!" Cassandra replied.

"The men's shower?" Samantha said. "What are you doing in there?"

"It's not the men's shower. It's my shower." Cassandra said, opening the shower curtain as Anorra, Samantha, Rachel, Rogue, and Zephyr walked into the room.

"Oh. Um, hi, Logan." Rogue said, blushing and turning her eyes downward.

Logan nodded, still not quite sure what was going on.

"Come on, Cass, it's time for bed." Anorra said.

"But I'm not sleepy." Cassandra protested.

"Yes you are." Rachel said.

Cassandra shook her head. "Me no sleepy. Me happy! Look, he's happy too!" She pointed at Logan.

Which, of course, made everyone look downwards to where she was pointing.

"Logan, put your pants on." Samantha told him. "There are some things I really don't want to see."

"Yell at her, she walked in on me." Logan said, but he grabbed a towel and tied it around his waist.

"Awww. No more happy. Look, I can still kind of see it!" Cassandra announced, reaching for Logan's towel.

Anorra caught her hand. "No. Logan is keeping his towel."

"He has to hide his shame!" Cassandra commented gleefully.

"I think it's time to leave now. Fast." Zephyr said.

Rogue was still blushing and staring at the ground, trying really hard not to remember her crush on Logan.

Anorra draped Cassandra's towel over her, and the rest of the girls dragged her out of the shower, despite her protests.

Rachel stood in the hall with her towel wrapped around her and holding her keys. She was staring back and forth from the door to her keys to the door again. They had worked when she left for the showers. They had locked her door and everything. So why weren't they working now? To make matters worse, she had knocked on all of her female friends' doors, but none of them had answered. Of course, she hadn't really expected them to. Cassandra had keeled over as soon as they dragged her from the shower and put her in bed, Samantha was still a little shaky from her injury, Anorra was probably with Piotr so he wouldn't have to spend his last night in the medical facility alone, and Zephyr and Rogue had most likely just slept through her knocking.

She didn't know that Zephyr and Anorra had snuck into her shower and switched her keys. If she was a little less tired and it wasn't quite as late, Rachel probably would have concluded that something suspicious was going on. As it was, though, she continued to try to open her door until she gave up and began to bang on it in frustration.

Right about this time, Bobby was heading back to his room. It must have been a bathroom trip, since he was wearing boxers and a tee-shirt rather than a towel. He paused, though, as he saw Rachel engaged in battle with her doorknob.

"Um, something wrong?" He asked.

"My key's stupid." She said. "Either that or I am, because it's not working."

"Want me to try?" Bobby offered.

She handed him the key and he struggled with it for a few moments before shrugging.

"The lock must be jammed. It happens sometimes. You should talk to Sc…Professor Xavier tomorrow." Bobby said, changing names when he remembered Scott still wasn't here.

"Oh, goodie. Sitting out here all night will be so much fun." Rachel muttered.

"Did you knock on someone's door?" He asked.

"Everyone's except you and Piotr." She said. "They're all either not there or sleeping."

Bobby hesitated, then suggested, "You, um, want to stay in my room? You can borrow a shirt and a pair of sweats, and I can sleep on the floor…."

Rachel bit her lip. Rogue had told them about her and Bobby's break up. Rachel tried to feel bad for Rogue, but she couldn't help being a little bit happy that Bobby was single. And Rogue had said that the break up was mutual. Still, though, Rachel felt a little uncomfortable spending the night in her friend's ex-boyfriend's room. Actually, she felt a little uncomfortable spending the night in any guy's room. Especially when it happened to be a guy she sort of liked. Although it was better than spending the night in the hall.

"Um. Okay. If you don't mind, that is." Rachel said finally.

He smiled at her." I wouldn't have offered if I minded."

They headed to his room, and Rachel shut the door behind them as Bobby dug around in his dresser. He came up with a pair of blue sweatpants and a black shirt, which he offered to her.

"Here. These don't fit me anymore, so they're probably better than anything else I've got." He said, then turned his back to her so she could dress.

When she was finished, Rachel stepped forward into his line of view and said shyly, "You, um, don't have to sleep on the floor. It's a pretty big bed, so as long as we stay on separate sides, we should be fine."

"All right." Bobby said shyly. "As long as you're sure."

Out in the hall, Zephyr and Anorra grinned at each other after they had watched Bobby and Rachel disappear into his room.

"Good." Anorra said. "Now maybe they'll stop being so emo."

Zephyr nodded. "And now all we have to do is get Rogue and Gambit together and everyone will be happy."