It hadn't taken Kitty long to procure a chess set for John, but her first lesson would have to come another day-it was time for another session with Dr. Frost. He was setting up the pieces when she arrived at his cell.

"A hobby will be good for you," Emma remarked, reaching out to pluck a piece off the board, one of the queens. She held it up a few inches in front of her nose, studying it. "I adore chess." The bit of white molded plastic seemed to pass muster with her, and she placed it back in its position. "Of course, it's much easier to play when you know your opponents' strategy before they do."

"That's not very fair," John said, realizing as the words left his mouth that he really had no right to be spouting off about fairness, even for a board game.

"Of course not, but losing isn't very much fun, is it, John?" The tight white Capri pants she wore hugged her thighs as she sat down with notepad and tape recorder in hand. "I imagine you prefer to be on the winning team."

"Oh yeah, that's me, just jumping ship to go join the winning team." He plopped down on his cot and glared at her. "I thought you were supposed to stay objective, or something."

"I was making an observation, based on the time I've spent with you." She tilted her head, raised an eyebrow. "Now would be a good time to explore why you 'jumped ship', as you put it."

"Jesus, you shrinks and your head games." John shook his head with disgust at the trap he had set for himself. "Why don't you just get in there and find out what you want to know?" he asked, jabbing a finger against his temple. "You don't seem to care about reading people's minds without them knowing."

"Because to find out what I need to know, I would have to go a lot deeper than your thoughts on Ms. Munroe's hair or whether you want to incinerate Bobby to death, or just shoot him and be done with it." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'd have to go deeper than you're willing to go yourself, and for me to do it without your cooperation would be quite painful."

The smart remarks burned behind his tongue, but the look in Emma's eyes made him bite them back. "Shouldn't you turn on that tape recorder?"

"It's been on since I walked in, John." This time her smile felt more genuine. "Shall we get back to business, then?"

XXXX

FILE #: V0000279978

DESCRIPTION: Video transcript of footage from an 8mm cassette tape found amongst Robert Drake's personal effects.

NOTES: Individuals filmed have been identified as Robert Drake, codename "Iceman", and Marie D'Ancanto, codename "Rogue". While the cassette appeared to be in good condition, a portion of audio could not be recovered during format conversion. This seems to be unique to this section of tape, as audio was lifted and converted with no difficulty from the remaining 78 minutes of footage. Cassette is currently being examined by Media Recovery for signs of tampering.

(Video starts with stationary footage of a wood paneled door. Door opens to reveal MARIE D'ANCANTO sitting on a bed, reading a book.)

Voice of ROBERT DRAKE: (very serious) Seven forty-two p.m., March twenty-fifth, my senior year. The girl's dorms. Our scene opens with a shot of the most beautiful woman in the world, sitting on her bed, reading what must be an absolutely fascinating book.

(MARIE does not look up, but she smiles. The camera zooms in on her face until it loses focus, then zooms back out so her face just fills the frame. She tries to ignore the camera, which zooms out further to reveal the rest of her, but finally drops the book on the bed.)

MARIE: (exasperated) Bobby. I told ya I didn't wanna be part of your video scrapbook thing.

Voice of ROBERT: But how could I make a video scrapbook and not include my girlfriend? You're one of the only things I want to remember about this place forever. (The camera jostles around for a moment, and then is set on an elevated surface, presumably a dresser. ROBERT then joins MARIE on the bed, putting an arm around her.) C'mon, Rogue. Do it for posterity. (MARIE rolls her eyes, then looks at the camera.)

MARIE: My name is Rogue, it is also my senior year, and my boyfriend is one of the most obnoxious, annoying people on the face of this planet. (She looks over her right shoulder at ROBERT and smiles.) But for some reason I love him anyway.

ROBERT: (looks at the camera) Pretty soon, me and this incredible girl over here are gonna be superheroes. And we're gonna be the best damn supe-

Audio could not be recovered from 00:05:33.000 to00:11:45.000

(ROBERT continues to talk to the camera, until MARIE hits him on the arm. He flinches, laughing, and she attempts to push him off the bed but is caught by the wrists. She admonishes him further, but stops talking when he leans forward to rest his forehead against the top of her head. ROBERT says something that makes her smile.)

Voice from outside: (audio cuts back in) -na do it, at least close the door.

Second voice: He's got the video camera in there! I didn't know you were kinky like that, Drake!

ROBERT: (looking past the camera) You guys have three seconds to get outta here before I freeze you both to the wall! One! Two!

Voice fading down the hall: I'm telling Storm that you're making a porno!

(ROBERT jumps off the bed and bumps into the dresser as he runs out of the room, knocking the camera to the floor on its side. MARIE gets up off the bed and walks over to the camera, then reaches down and the screen goes black.)

Footage ends 00:23:28.000

XXXX

The sofa Rogue sat on in Storm's office held plenty of memories for her. It was the same sofa she'd sat on, stiff and terrified, when she'd first been brought to the school; the cushions were the same ones she'd wept into when they returned home without Dr. Grey. Now she clutched Bobby's fingers with a white-knuckled grip as she watched her superiors arrange themselves in the room with a vague air of discomfort. Logan rooted himself by the desk, crossing his arms and refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"I must really be in for it, huh?" Rogue managed to choke out, but the quaver in her voice deflated any levity in the weak joke.

"We want you to understand, Rogue, that while we started out discussing a course of disciplinary action for you, our final decision was based not on a degree of punishment but instead for your own safety." Storm sat opposite her and leaned in close, reaching out to take the hand that wasn't entwined with Bobby's. "It's also only temporary."

"You're going back to your parents," Logan growled, his voice flat and gruff, and Storm glared back at him.

It took several minutes for Rogue to comprehend what had just been said to her, and when she finally grasped the meaning behind Logan's words her first reaction was to laugh out loud. "That's a joke, right?" Looking back and forth between her instructors, she waited for one of them to crack a smile. "I mean, you can't be serious," she stammered. "This is my home."

"It's only on a temporary basis, while the investigation is ongoing," Storm continued. "You know you'll always be welcome here-"

"But I'm not welcome here right now." Releasing Bobby's hand, Rogue stood to face Logan. "This is your idea of disciplinary action? Getting rid of me altogether? Sending me back to people who hate me for what I am?"

His face didn't change. "You've proven to us that we can't trust you to stay out of things."

Storm stood to cut Rogue off before she could make a rebuttal. "Our number one concern here is your well being, Rogue, and with circumstances being the way they are we don't feel that this is a safe place for you to be right now."

"But the rest of the three hundred and twenty five students here are just fine?" Her hands clenched, and without the gloves her palms felt the unfamiliar bite of fingernails digging into bare skin. "I don't see you sending anybody else home."

"Most of the other students don't have a home to go back to," Storm reminded her gently. "For them, this is still the safest place to be. For themselves and for everyone around them. I know you understand that."

The admonishment stung. "Don't you understand that I can't go back? I almost killed somebody in a small town where 'mutant' is still a dirty word, and you think I'll be safe there?" Her voice began to rise as panic set in.

"You don't need to worry about that, Rogue." A hint of exasperation was beginning to find its way into Ms. Munroe's voice. "Dr. Frost has agreed to help us out in that respect. Your parents only told people that you'd run away, and without your powers there's no need for them to think that you might pose any sort of danger-"

Finally Bobby spoke. "So Dr. Frost is going to brainwash them into forgetting that Rogue's a mutant?" He looked back and forth between Logan and Storm, brow furrowed. "Isn't that unethical?"

His words sparked a moment of silence before everyone began talking at once, each trying to be heard over everybody else. "I can't believe you'd just..." "It's the simplest solution..." "...really think the Professor would agree with..."

"HEY." The single syllable from Logan silenced the cacophony. "This ain't a democracy. Go pack up, you're leaving tomorrow."

Tears welling in her eyes again, Rogue stalked out of the room, Bobby scrambling to follow. Storm put a hand to her head and rubbed her temples. "Do you really think that was the best way to handle things? With commands?"

"Hey, I didn't see you stepping up to the plate. And it was your idea, to begin with." Logan picked up his jacket off the back of Storm's chair and headed for the door. "I was all for making her swab the deck for a few weeks."

Alone in the office that still didn't feel like hers, Ororo Munroe addressed the desk as though it could respond to her lamentations. "I don't know how you did it. And I don't know how to do it. How can I be strong enough for everyone?"

There was no response, just a cold glare off the polished wood.